They’d also started practicing with their breath weapons. So far, the two with poison gas only let off little more than nauseating clouds, which might make a human sick, and the black spat acid, which couldn’t even eat through wood, though it did at least sizzle and pop. A bigger surprise was when each of them managed to spit tiny shocking bits of electricity.

  Motherhood was harder than Matilda had thought it would be, and she very much wanted to see Nico again to find out what he’d done to her children.

  ______________________

  Hundreds of miles outside the City of the Dawn, another dragon was questioning what was happening with her life. Sheraleigh had been allowed to go out hunting. It had been too long since she’d been able to properly stretch her wings. Surely her elders could sleep for a decade or more, but she wasn’t tired. Instead, she craved the joy of the hunt.

  Being served was delightful, but she was young and had plenty of energy. She wanted to fly and to hunt. It had taken some doing, but she finally got around the objections of Emperor Castine—or, as she thought of him, her chief minion. He wasn’t technically her minion. She wouldn’t even have the ability to form minion contracts until she became a true adult.

  Still, she wasn’t about to bite the hand that fed her, so to speak. It became a point of contention that she needed to fly free. Her Chief Minion had insisted that she allow one of the humans to ride on her back, but that wasn’t gonna happen. She’d recently met some of the stupid dragons who lived in the capital. They were idiots. Something was wrong with their heads. They let the humans treat them like beasts and seemed to be rather on the small side.

  Sheraleigh wasn’t exceptionally large, but the dragons which she’d met here acted mature. Some of the females had birthed clutches, so they must be mature adults at least. She scoffed at the comparison between them and her mother. Mother would have eaten all five of them, what they called a wing, and called it a snack.

  What bothered her more than anything was how the dragons got along. They acted friendly towards one another. She half expected them to start sniffing each other’s butts like overgrown dogs. They would actually lay together and mostly only left the city in the company of others, as a wing.

  It was fine for hatchlings to lie together for warmth—that was expected. But the pecking order that needed to be established came from there. By all rights, she should have been killed or at the least forced into servitude by one of her siblings, yet somehow, that hadn’t happened.

  She knew the reason, she just didn’t understand it. Nicosandumas had protected her. Not only was he the strongest in their clutch, he also was as odd in his own way as these dragons in the human city. Her chief minion had told her that he was alive and in another human city. A part of Sheraleigh wanted to see him, but another part thought she might be better off without Nicosandumas. He had strange ideas in his head, after all.

  At least she was outside the city. It wasn’t true freedom since the flight of dragons was out here with her. But when she saw a herd of elk, all other thoughts left her and she began her hunt.

  _______________________________

  Namis looked out at the horizon. The sea stretched as far as even his keen elven eyes could see in every direction. The only thing which broke up the union of endless sky and water was the other five sleek ships that cut through the water—six, including the one he was on. Each ship was carved to share features with a mighty beast: a griffin, a manticore, a winter wolf, and a leviathan, amongst others.

  The elven sailors didn’t worship such beasts, but they named their ships after them. But Namis was not truly a sailor. He considered himself more of a privateer. His home city of Elianstreda had licensed him to raid other continents or even other elvish enclaves, although that was much trickier. Mostly, he liked to raid the human coastal cities or sometimes the orcs’ riverside enclaves. The dwarves were usually underground, so such endeavors were not simple undertakings.

  Now, he was on a sponsored trip rather than a simple raid. Namis wouldn’t turn down any loot that he could lay his hands on, but information gathering was the main purpose of this trip. The elves had wondered for a while what was happening with the dragons in the human empire, but had never been interested enough to find out the details.

  It was the reports they’d received about the new bonded dragon and his odd behavior, which was of most interest to the elven elders. It wasn’t that there had never been any elves who had bonded with a dragon, just that they were few and far between. The power dynamics of the bond with a dragon worked differently for the elves.

  Thinking of bonded riders, Namis suddenly heard a call of alarm from the crow's nest. The sailors started moving rapidly to reef the rigging as the captain shouted orders. The sails were shortened, and the crew tried to secure the ship—as if a storm was coming in. A quick glance was all that Namis had time for, but he saw that all the other ships were doing the same thing.

  The reason was simple. On the horizon, the lookouts had spotted a pair of winged creatures headed their way from the south-east. They were too far away to make out many details, but nothing else looked quite like a dragon.

  Far Sight

  As the spell took hold, Namis could make out more details. It was as he had feared: two dragons. It would have been a once in a lifetime event to see two unbonded dragons flying together like this, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw riders on the backs of each dragon.

  The lead dragon was a good sized red, probably an elder dragon, but maybe an ancient. It was hard to say, judging solely from the creature’s size, especially at this range. The one behind him was a green. A green’s poisonous breath they could handle, but fire was very bad while stuck out in the middle of the sea. The only thing worse would have been a blue dragon, since they could swim up underneath a ship and take you with little to no warning.

  Namis started shouting commands. He might not control the ship, but he was in charge of the rangers and druids on board not only this ship, but all the ships. If two dragons were going to be stopped, it would come down to his people.

  The wind stilled, controlled by the weather workers, not because they wanted to be sitting ducks but because they couldn’t move fast enough or agilely enough to avoid a dragon. If such was the case, it was better to be still and have a stable platform to fight from.

  Fire and Poison Resistance buffs popped up in the back of his mind as his people went to work. Arrows were charged and a volley of death sufficient even for dragons was prepared. Of course, the dragons would know what was awaiting them, so it would be a battle of counter-measures if it came to that, at least that is how things would start.

  The two dragons passed overhead. That was a good sign. Exposing their bellies like that was as good as waving a parlay flag. It suggested that they wanted to speak. This gave Namis a chance to get a good look at both of the riders. The one on the red was human, while the green rider was an elf.

  They both wore the same sleeveless, lightly armored vests marked with the symbol of the so-called Clan of the Dragon. Most of the bonded dragons that he knew of were associated with the clan. Thankfully, the clan stayed to their little set of islands, practicing whatever passed for discipline and mediation amongst their kind. The fact that they were here was curious.

  When the dragons swooped back around, the human rider stood up, his balance perfect. Then the great dragon came to a stop. Only magic could explain how such a massive beast could hover in the air barely flapping his wings, but that didn’t really matter.

  Up close, Namis firmed up his assessment—almost certainly an elder dragon, but not nearly to the ancient category. That meant they wouldn’t have to deal with higher than 7th Tier magic from this one. Although, in Namis’ experience, magic was the least of a dragon’s weapons.

  “Greetings, elven voyagers. How fare you?”

  The Captain looked to Namis who stepped forward to speak for them. “Just fine. I am Namis Erlanis, raid commander for this privateer fleet sailing from Elianstreda. What can we do for the Clan of the Dragon?”

  “Ah, right to it, then. Good. Beliciosia doesn’t like wasting time.” At that, the red dragon snorted.

  The human continued, “My name is Turan Lev and as you say, I represent the Clan of the Dragon. Might we inquire as to your business, sailing so far south?”

  “I’m not sure why that is any concern of yours… or has the Clan started to claim control of all the sea?”

  “No, but change is coming and soon all will have to choose sides. You and your people snipe and pick at the fringes but try to avoid any of the real fighting. That may not be possible this time.”

  “Spoken as a true believer.” Namis spread his arms wide. “All I’m trying to do is make my way through the world. Now, if we’re going to fight, I’d prefer that we just start and get it over with.”

  With that, the green dragon streaked forward and up, gaining altitude till he was almost in the clouds. The human rider shook his head and said, “Things are happening on Taleia which cannot be interfered with. The sages say a new Warden of the Balance has been named and the first human dragon rider outside of the Clan has arisen. Now is not a good time for your petty raids.”

  Namis sighed. It always came down to this. Dragons or their riders, they always thought too much of themselves.

  Then he felt it. They had wards in place, but even then, it was staggering. Waves of fear washed over the ships. His bowels clenched up so tight he could have made diamonds, and all around him he saw hands shaking. Still, the wards held. If they hadn’t, then dragon fear would have driven many of his men and most of the sailors to flee—no matter that meant jumping into the sea and trying to swim home.

  With a quick flick of his wrist, sixty enchanted arrows launched at the dragon. Some came from the ship he was on, with others rising from the ship behind the dragon. The arrows streaked and buzzed with explosive power, debuffing spells, electrical energy, and dire poisons—not that any of it mattered.

  All the arrows struck the dragon and then passed right through it. For in an instant, the creature became living flame in the air. Namis didn’t know of any spell of the 7th Tier which could do that to such a large dragon, but it happened all the same. Worse, there must have been some secondary magical protection involved, as well, because even the arrows which might have affected an incorporeal target all went flying straight through.

  Some rained down on his ship and some on the other ship, as both sides essentially caught each other in friendly fire. Elves were blasted to pieces by explosive arrows. Acid sizzled along the deck of the ship and a slowness expanded from one of the arrows, making Namis feel sluggish.

  His team were professionals, though, and the druids began casting counter measures and dispelling magical effects. Not that it mattered, though, as the dragon of fire surged forward and ripped through the rigging of his ship. A single tail smash cracked the mast and felled it like a tree before a lumberjack. Magical fire danced along the ship’s deck and it was all that his druids could do to put it out.

  Within less than a minute, the dragon had moved from one ship to the next, disabling each of them. This damage could be repaired with magic, but it would be time consuming, painstaking work.

  Then, the dragon soared up higher, out of arrow range. The rider’s voice called out, no doubt amplified by magic. “You’re too accustomed to thinking you know the limitations of a dragon. Bonded, we are stronger than you could ever know. This is the Way of the Dragon, freedom which is not afraid of seeking power in unity. Perhaps you’ll think twice before you take on a bonded dragon again.” Then the red dragon was seen racing across the sky, soon fading into the distance as it was joined by the green.

  One of the druids gave him a questioning look, as though to inquire if they should attempt to follow after their attacker. That level of power couldn’t be something the creature could repeat time and time again. But no, that would be foolishness. They needed to repair the ships and then decide what to do. More than ever, Namis began to wonder if his son wasn’t really onto something.

  Chapter 11 - Encounters

  When I walked into the restaurant, a woman stepped up, smiling. “Welcome Sir, we’re so glad to have you with us this evening. Will you be dining alone?”

  I couldn’t help but pause for a moment. If other humans were only so respectful to me, it would make things so much easier. I wasn’t sure if this one had some special magic which enabled her to recognize my inherent superiority, but the way she greeted me spoke to her genuine enthusiasm for my presence.

  “No, I am meeting my dragon knight and some fake…”

  I was cut off as Cami was suddenly at my side. She grabbed my arm and said, “We shouldn’t bother the greeter with such things.” Then, without waiting for me to reply she insistently started tugging on my arm.

  When we were a few feet away from the woman who still smiled at us, I telepathically said, “Wait. That woman was so polite I was going to ask if she’d like to be a minion.”

  Cami put the palm of her hand to her face almost like she needed a place to rest her head. She let out a low groan. “Oh Nico, remind me about it sometime, and we’ll talk about greeters later.”

  I was a bit confused by her demeanor, but it sounded to me like she felt it would be a good idea to recruit a minion like this woman. A ‘greeter’… hmmm. I liked that idea. Eventually, when I got more minions, it would be useful to have someone to help organize everyone. And once I had a lair, it would be nice to have a properly dutiful minion waiting to greet me every time I returned home.

  Cami all but dragged me over to the table where the four fake dragon riders were sitting. They all smiled but didn’t bother to stand, except for a wide human male with a bushy growth of hair on his face—a beard, they called it. I was so glad that shape changing made it easy so as not to require scraping the hair off my face as humans often did. I would have never stood for that. Being descended from monkeys, I’d think that the humans would have wanted to trim their hair as much as they could to avoid anyone mistaking them for throwbacks.

  The standing human pulled out a chair. He said, “Cami, please sit next to me.”

  I felt an immediate dislike for the man without quite knowing why—it went well beyond the hatred I already felt for their role in the subjugation of dragons. I didn’t get a chance to say anything, though, as the female rider turned to me with a smile.

  “You must be Nico. Cami has talked about you a lot and the headmaster said our class wouldn’t be complete without you.” She motioned to a chair on her side of the table. “Please, come sit next to me.”

  I took the spot as I tried to assess the fake dragon riders. They all seemed confident enough, but in different ways. The man with the hairy face identified himself as Terrel, while the woman was named Natalie. Then there was a tall, lanky man named Will, and a short man with close cut dark hair, named Simon. It turned out that Simon was the leader of their group, despite his diminutive size.

  I snorted at that, which drew everyone’s eyes.

  He asked, “You’re a big man, Nico. I suppose you have a problem with me being the leader?” He gave me a fake smile as he spoke.

  I was able to recognize that much, at least. I returned the expression. This was clearly some human dynamic of social hierarchy. “Oh, I’m much bigger than you actually know. Humans are so small, in general.”

  Cami’s eyes went wide at my remark.

  Natalie cut in smoothly, though, “Oh, I get what you mean. Compared to our dragons, all of us are small. Let me assure you, Nico, Simon is an excellent dragon rider and a great leader. Our wing has been wildly successful in all of our missions. We just aren’t sure what to do about Matilda. None of us saw that coming.”

  “You could just let her free.”

  Terrel burst out laughing, but when everyone at the table stared at him, he mumbled, “What? I thought he was making a joke.”

  Simon said, “It wouldn’t be responsible to release Matilda into the wild. She was born and raised here and doesn’t know anything different. She would be both helpless and yet still immensely powerful without our guidance. That’s why we’re hoping that Cami here can ride Matilda.”

  “What if she wants to ride a different dragon?” I asked.

  “Uh… oh, you mean one of the hatchlings? Something is off with them. Normally dragon hatchlings grow fairly quickly and by the time they are two years old they are able to carry a rider. These runts, however, were barely growing at all and then suddenly had a massive growth spurt and became several times larger. If this keeps up, they’ll soon be ready to fly and within a few months can take on riders.”