Original Stories Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Eternal ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter SixJourney

The scorching sun beat down mercilessly upon the ragged group that moved through the vast rolling desert. A multitude of horses circled he caravan, each bearing a slaver that kept a close eye over his charges as they either stumbled through the unforgiving sands or rode in one of the eight wagons.

Within one of the eight wagons sat a red head beneath the white canopy that reflected the searing sun as she stared impassively back at the other slaves. Closest to her sat the silver haired dragon as she dozed fitfully.

Soren turned her gaze from the nervous slaves and focused instead on the world moving behind them. Finding nothing of interest to hold her attention she settled for staring at the strange dragon woman. She had not once mentioned their conversation in the entire week that Jestiry had left them together, even after she had said, no promised, that she would get the answers she wanted out of her and yet here they sat in utter silence as Sora snoozed the day away and the other slaves gave both of them a wide berth. Such an odd woman.

She glanced down at her side as the air rippled and bent around her and something warm and furry settled against her thigh. Brushing the oddity from her mind she turned back to Sora and continued staring at her.

When she slept there was an almost peaceful look to her in the way the crease between her eyebrows smoothed, her lips lost the almost permanent frown, and just how she slumped back against the wood of the wagon as though she trusted no one to attack her. The wagon jounced a little against a rock and she slid down the siding to curl up into a ball and continue sleeping as though nothing had happened.

“Oy, flame child,” a soft voice whispered.

Soren ignored him. She had nothing to say to the lot of them and had no interest in engaging in idle conversation.

“Fayra,” he tried again.She glanced at him and he motioned to her to come closer. She shook her head and turned he gaze back to Sora. “Fayra?” Sadi asked again and this time she threw a hard glare to the man.

“How can you manage to stay so close to her? None of us can stand to be within more than ten feet of her for more than an hour and yet you've been sitting there for almost the entire day? How can you stand it?” he asked quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping dragon, his dark eyes burning with undiluted curiosity.

Soren resisted the impulse to roll her eyes at the man. Of all the slaves that were to be sold with her he and Sarra were the only humans that had made even scathing comments to her or tried to engage her in conversation to pass the time. “I don't care what her species is. She hasn't tried to kill me yet, so I don't care if she's near or not,” she said calmly. “Besides, I can withstand insufferable attitudes better than…ouch…” Her words were effectively cut off as Sora kicked her in the thigh.

Sora glared at her from the straw. “'m not insufferable, just stubborn,” she said angrily, her voice half fogged by sleep.

Soren returned the look with interest. “If I say you're insufferable, then you are,” she snapped, not caring how much she sounded like a child at the moment. “And, might I say, you-”

“No you may not,” Sora tried to interrupt her.

“-are a mean son of a bitch,” Soren finished.

Even if most of them didn't know what her words meant, it wasn't hard to guess that they were rude from the way the two glared at each other. Then Sora sighed and rolled onto her other side to face the boarding, while still managing to land another kick to Soren's thigh. “I'm a bitch with bite,” she muttered. “Remember that.”

As she closed her eyes and wormed her shoulder into a more comfortable sleeping position something soft brushed against her neck and whispered something in her ear. She sat bolt upright and stared wildly around. The other slaves shrank away from her while Soren glared warily at her; no doubt she had memories of her recent experience with Karu flitting through her minds eye at that very moment.

The air rippled and bent near the mouth of the wagon and a soft growl filled the space next to Soren as the fain outline of large, white cat flickered next to her for a moment. Sora ignored the cat and shot out the wagon's mouth and landed with deft grace before the next wagon, but ignored it as she craned her head back to stare into the ever blue sky.

The four horses pulling the wagon snorted and rolled their eyes in terror as they tried to swerve different directions to avoid the creature before them. The slaver driving the horses gave a shout and tried to yank the horses back, but it was already too late; with a massive creaking and wailing of the wood the axle split apart and broke free of the wagon, scattering to the five winds and leaving the wagon motionless. The other five wagons behind the third came to a stuttering halt as their drivers yanked hard on the reins to avoid crashing.

Soren allowed her body to jerk back and forth with the motion of their wagon as they too came to a grinding halt. Several shouts echoed through the already heated day as they poked their heads out to see what had happened, as the slavers jumped down from the wagons and started angrily for the cause of the mess until they saw her silver hair and diverted their steps instead towards Jestiry.

“Wonderful way to star gaze,” Soren said in an offhand manner even though no stars were visible at that time of day.

Sora snorted in rough amusement. “You, youngling, have much to learn if you cannot tell the difference between day and night. And, besides, there will be another dragon flying overhead soon enou…” Her voice was drowned out by a sudden keening that made everyone's hairs stand on end.

Sure enough, a brown and white dragon shot through the sky overhead far enough away that they couldn't tell her real size but close enough that they could see the strips. Just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone though her strange keening could be heard for several long moments after she had disappeared over the horizon. Then, nothing.

For another long moment no one moved, no one dared breathe. Sora finally looked away from the sky and swayed on the spot, pale and sick. From the moment the first note had sounded to the last note she had listened intently, deriving their meaning where no one else could. Her eyes locked with Soren's.

“Well, half your problem has been taken care of,” she said quietly before she collapsed to her knees and wretched violently.

Soren took half a step forward and hesitated. “What problem?” she asked quietly, fully aware that every pair of eyes was focusing on them.

“Karu is dead by the hand of two Dragon Officials. Jesira is rulerless,” Sora said softly. “That was his mother going to retrieve the rest of the body. Something about the bastard not wanting to deal with the smell.”

An uneasy murmur rippled through the air at her words. Everyone took a step away from her as Soren knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What does Karu have anything to do with me?” she asked. “Yes he tried to kill me, but that was it. That was the end of it.”

An odd smile crept about her lips. “You're clueless, then. Once that bastard sets out to kill, there's no stopping him until you're dead. If Karu is dead, then that means that he did not give up what you looked like or where you were dropped. It means that they'll start the search over again and keep coming after you until you get your scrawny ass the hell away from here or find that other dragon that protected you and find out what the hell they want from you or them.”

“Let them come,” Soren said returning the smile as she rose to her feet. “Let them do their worst.”

Sora stared at her in surprise. “Are you mad?” she asked softly.

Soren paused in her retreat. “Perhaps.”

The clean up of the wagons took only a few hours in which the damaged wagon was fitted with a spare axle and the horses shuffled around a bit so that the missing ones were replaced. They were on their way as though nothing had happened by the time daily rations were handed out to the slaves, without so much as a word to Sora about the havoc she had caused.

Even with the news that Jesira was now rulerless Jestiry decided to keep pushing for the slave pens seeing as Adair wouldn't have accepted them beyond the borders and Rianan was in embroiled in a state of civil war. He wanted to make the most of his “catches” and Jesira was the one place he could count on, especially when he had a dragon he could offer to the more ambitious ministers or nobles.

It was from that moment on that Soren and the dragon kept a respectful distance and eyed each other with only a mild interest. The weeks began to blend together as everything became a mundane routine; eat, sleep, walk, wrestle water from a slaver, eat, sleep, walk, eat, sleep walk, eat, sleep, walk, wrestle water from a slaver…

Eight weeks slid by and Soren found herself again sitting among the group she had first awoken in. Sadi and Sara were engaged in a verbal fight that had every lookings of a friendly match, but the talk just barely concealed the tension she saw in their bodies. In the nine weeks since she had come to travel with them she had learned to decipher the subtle ebb and flow of their bodies and words and what she saw didn't please her. They were frightened and the way the slavers prowled told her that they were restless and were showing they had a refined taste for cruelty, even slow witted Hector. Whatever was going on wasn't good.

Soren glanced down at the stale bread in her hand and realized that the pile of crumbs had come from her as she had slowly turned it to dust between her fingers. She brushed the crumbs from her fingers and let the bread drop to her knee as settled back against the wood to consider the possibilities. There were the obvious such as the journey was beginning to touch a little on everyone's nerves or the slavers were just bored and taking it out on them. Then there were the not so obvious such as Jestiry had ordered his men to frighten them and get them ready for “market day.” All seemed a likely answer, all seemed a legitimate reason for the tension in the air, except…except the tension had a darker feel to it as though something deeper were tainting it.

Her thoughts were broken by a snarl and a squeal. Without thinking she lurched forward onto her knees and grabbed the child that was scrabbling past her with an adult male not far behind. Swinging the girl behind her, Soren used her body as a shield as she faced the man.

Red faced and half mad he towered over her as he snarled again. “Gimmie my bread back,” he snapped.

“What do you say?” Soren asked in an irritatingly mild voice.

“Gimmie the bread or I'll snap your neck,” he snarled.

She smiled almost lazily despite the fact that the man crouching over her was nearly twice her size and weight. “Try it,” she said softly. “See how close you get.”

The man lunged at her, but was knocked off balance when the wagon bounced over a rock and sent him tumbling into Sarah. As the ruckus ensued Soren turned her head slightly to look at the child she had saved. No more than skin and bones her lank brown hair fell to her shoulders as sunken hazel eyes stared back at her. “Stealing isn't always a good idea,” she said mildly. “Getting chased is an even worse idea when you're as bad off as you are. Where's your mother?”

The girl shook her head and crouched down to eat the bread, but gave a noise of protest as Soren swiped it from her hands. “Sadi,” she said and he looked up from restraining the man.

His hand flashed through the air as he snatched a crust of bread from mid-flight, a mildly surprised look flitting through his eyes. “That was the bread the girl stole from him. Return it to him and then let him go,” she said and then turned back to the girl. “What's your name, child?”

The girl hesitated for a moment and then muttered something so softly she missed it. “Say again?” she asked gently.

“Lukerinserianami,” she mumbled just a little louder.Soren blinked and then bit her lip to keep from laughing when she realized the girl wasn't kidding. “Why don't I just call you Rin?” she asked, fighting to keep her voice as pleasant as possible so as not to scare the child.

She looked up at her with solemn hazel eyes before nodding. Rin glanced over her shoulder and then crouched down so Soren's body completely hide her small frame. Glancing back she saw that the man was crouched behind her. For a brief moment their eyes locked and then he paled and took off out the back. She waited for a moment then turned back to Rin. “If you promise not to go stealing someone else's bread again I'll give you mine.”

Rin looked up at her, a hopeful gleam to her eyes before it dimmed. “Mean it?” she asked warily.

“Of course,” Soren said, picking the discarded bread up and flicking the straw away as she handed it to her. Rin carefully took it and stuffed it in her mouth as though afraid Soren would change her mind and take it back. Soren merely smiled and sat back on her heels. “Where are your parents?”

“Have none,” Rin muttered through her mouthful of bread. “Gone weeks ago.”

“Weeks?” Soren repeated, suddenly frowning.

“Chains kill,” Rin said, looking her full in the face. “Mean man say kill.”

“Jestiry?” Sadi asked.

Rin merely nodded.

Soren looked at Sadi and he froze. When Sara moved closer to him she realized that she had already allowed her usual cold to settle over her. Making an effort to bring herself out of it to at least a manageable level where she wouldn't be quite so dangerous to deal with she asked, “He's already killing those that are too weak to keep up?”

“Yes,” Sara said curtly. “That's the way it is here. Strength rules.”

“Might makes right?” she asked dully, feeling the edges of her natural state beginning to pull at her.

“Yes, and Jestiry is the strongest of the slavers here,” Sadi said, settling cross-legged as he eyed Soren as if to decide if she were a threat or not. Sara hesitated for a moment, but sat back on her heels next to her.

Soren studied them for a moment. They went well together, the way they balanced out each other's tempers, she finally decided. She repositioned herself against the wall again and watched as Rin moved about the rest of the wagon in her search for “non-stolen” food, but came up nil. She returned to Soren and plopped down in her lap as though immune to whatever was making the others keep their distance.

This gave her pause to think.

“Why do you guys avoid me like the plague? I mean, I can understand avoiding me because of the eyes, but the way you flinch away or look disturbed isn't explained by normal avoidance,” she said softly.

Sadi went very, very still when they locked eyes. It was almost as though he were prey caught in the hunter's gaze. He swallowed nervously and averted his gaze as he said, “Its not so much the color of your eyes as it is when you look at people. When some look at you they say they see death while others say they can see an endless black behind the swirling mist.”

She blinked once, twice. “That's it?” she asked.

He looked up at her, thoroughly confused. “Yes. People don't like the way you look at them,” he said softly.

A quiet laugh escaped her lips. “They've never described me like that,” she said.

“Like what?”

“Swirling mist.”

Even Sara blinked owlishly at that. “I've been described as a lot of things, none of which were polite. Its nice to here something different for once, is all,” she explained with a shrug. “I just like it.”

Sadi lowered his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable, and Soren reverted back to their previous topic and allowed the calm to settle over her, driving away the brief easiness that had flowed through her. “Why does Jestiry kill them off? Even a weak slave can be sold for a small amount and nursed back to health for later use.”

“That, flame child,” Sadi sighed, “doesn't matter to the likes of these men, not when they've got a hundred more like them. They probably pissed him off and he killed her parents to make his point. Its another way of showing his strength and proving that he can do whatever the hell he wants to.”

“What about Sora?”

“What about her?”

“She's killed his men, set a wagon on fire, tangled with him more times that I care to count, and yet she's still alive. Is it because she's a dragon?”

“Yes and no,” he said reluctantly.

“Of course it is,” Sara burst. “He's afraid of her str-” Her words were cut off by the hand that suddenly closed over her mouth.

Sadi cast a wild look around and then leaned close to hiss something in her ear. Sara gave him a mutinous look, but said nothing when he dropped back down. They eyed each other for a moment and then looked back to Soren.

Soren ignored this exchange as she asked, “How strong are dragons and how often do they fight each other?”

That made them stare. “Excuse me?” Sara shot off. “Dragons do not fight amongst themselves. They're too few in number so killing each other would only weaken them further. As to their individual strength-”

“There are three different classes that we're divided into at birth: Healer, Fighter, Riagenkai. Fighter is the best to be raised as, but Healer is preferable to Riagenkai seeing as that designation is considered an exile. Its like your human's hate for the imagi,” Sora said mildly as she appeared by the mouth of the wagon, easily keeping pace without getting run over by the horse behind her, “unwarranted, but there. As to our strengths, we are further divided into two simple categories: Perfect and Useless. Anymore brilliant questions while I'm still around?”

“Did you know eavesdropping isn't an attractive habit to develop?” Soren asked lazily.

“It's a habit I developed long before you were even thought of,” Sora replied cheerily. “Long, long before.”

“About the time dirt was invented?”

Sora flushed a blotchy crimson as she glared at the younger girl. “No, well after that.”

Soren watched her for a moment, then asked, “Why are you eavesdropping on our conversation? Its not like anything we're saying is anything of interest to you, nor is it any of your business.” Green met and held silver. Something flashed in her eyes that made Soren flinch and turn away.

“I've nothing better to do,” she said with a shrug, then disappeared.

“Is she always like that?” Sadi asked, drawing the back of his hands across his lips.

“What? Always disappearing and reappearing at the oddest moments like that? Pretty much,” Soren said with a grimace, thinking back on the few times that Sora had appeared at inconvenient moments. “Says a few things and then wanders off. I'd almost say that she's insane, but then she's too sharp to be that.” She shifted some under Rin's weight and repositioned the girl so that the blood flow to her legs returned.

Sadi and Sara exchanged a significant look for a long moment before Sadi made a gesture and shrugged. Sara glared at him, but turned to ask, “She shows up around you constantly?”

“Yes, she has nothing better to do,” Soren said with a shrug.

“She is a Riagenkai,” Sara pointed out.

“And?” Soren asked coolly.

“Riagenkai choose royals to rule their country,” Sara persisted.

“And?” she asked again.

“And there are two Riagenkai missing. What if she's one of them?”

“So?”

“So,” Sara snapped in frustration, “You're a ruler.” This drew the attention of the other slaves, whom had politely been ignoring their conversation up to that point.A harsh bark of laughter sounded through the wagon, startling even Rin. The other slaves glanced at her and shifted nervously. The last time she had laughed she had been taunting Jestiry and had ended up being dragged to the point of unconsciousness while they had received no food or water for nearly three days.

“You think I'm a ruler? If that's so then why am I sitting here and not in some court where little robed men scurry around like ants?” she asked as a strange smile crossed her lips and a cool silver hardened her eyes. “If that's true then how were they able to shackle me and make me a slave?”

When Sara went completely still and made to move to answer, Soren closed her eyes and leaned back against the wood. She made herself as comfortable as she could with Rin's weight and let time pass without really feeling it

That night they stopped and made camp, something they had never done aside from stopping long enough to allow the tired horses to drink their fill of water, eat, and rest for a few hours before they were off again. Soren pitched in a hand in clearing out the straw and replacing it with fresh while Rin hung around her and everyone else avoided her like she had small pox.

Stretching her back she wiped sweat from her forehead and looked around, suddenly aware of the intense quiet that had enveloped everyone. She glanced at Rin and was mildly surprised when the little girl moved closer to her. “What's up?” she asked in a quiet tone.

Rin looked at her and then clutched at her shirt. “Dragon,” she muttered.

“Sora?” she prompted.

Rin merely shook her head.

“The egg?”

She gave a sharp nod and then pressed her frail body to Soren's side, seeking protection and comfort. Soren gave her back an awkward pat before she bent back to her work.

Well, even if there was a dragon hatching, it was none of her business. It had absolutely nothing to do with her. She had no interest whatsoever in watching a dragon hatch. It didn't concern her. The others wouldn't welcome her presence even if she wanted to watch. She wouldn't watch. She had work to do. There were other things she needed to do…What were they again?

Soren blinked and shook her head in exasperation. Since when did she care what others thought of her and allow that to dictate her actions. And, alright, yes, she probably could find other things she could do with her time, like find some water and scrub the ripe smell from her skin, but she was a little curious as to how a dragon hatched and what it looked like first out of the egg.

And that was how she found herself hovering near the edge of the crowd, eyeing it, and reconsidering her choice. She didn't like being smashed between other people and she especially didn't like large crowds. Backing slowly away she turned and saw Sora standing just a few feet from her, a glazed look to her eyes.Rin tugged at her sleeve and she turned her attention to the little girl instead. “Hm?” she asked.

“Scary dragon,” Rin whispered.

A smile flitted around the edges of her lips as she looked at Rin. “No, I think she's just distracted is all. She not really scary unless you provoke her or piss her off?”

Rin blinked at her in surprise. “You piss on her and she gets scary?” she asked, not really understanding the words. Soren stifled a true laugh as she fought to think of a way to explain something that seemed relatively simple to her.“No, no. You don't piss on someone to make them scary, though that may just make them angry. Pissing someone off is another way of saying that you're making someone angry,” she explained with a crooked smile.

She might not have been apt at handling adolescents and their reactions to her, but she had always appreciated the way younger children never seemed to be afraid of her or shun her. Where she lost her patience with her own peers she could laugh and explain to a child without really thinking much of it. There was just something about them that encouraged her to discard her mask and laugh with them and it was a relief that she could do that with at least some sort of sentient being.

Rin's head snapped around as Sora suddenly started forward and grabbed Soren's arm. Soren spun from the force she used to steer her and suppressed a wince as she felt her bones creak under the pressure the dragon was exerting on her. She pulled Rin's head closer to her thigh to keep her from getting knocked in the skull when they started jostling their way through the crowd and the other slaves made growling protests and a few even tried to hit them.

“What are you up to?” Soren hissed at the distracted dragon.

“Dragon hatchlings need caregivers,” she said shortly.

Fear flitted through her stomach at those words. Caregiver? What was she talking about? She had an idea, but she didn't like where the it was headed any more than what it implicated. Soren dug her heels into the soft sand and tried to yank her arm free, but Sora yanked harder and dragged her along.

“Careful there, youngling, you wouldn't want the little one being jerked loose from your grip and trampled in that mob, would you?” Sora asked softly, a touch of bitterness tingeing her voice.

Soren glanced down at Rin, wrinkled her nose, and let herself be dragged along. Much as she hated being told what to do, she would have hated herself more to know Rin died because of her carelessness. For the moment, she would allow Sora to jerk her along until she could safely get away without causing Rin to be hurt in any way.

Near the front of the gathering they stopped, the wagon where the hatching egg was kept in their sights. Soren inhaled sharply as electricity shot through her wrist and she felt something snap in both arms. She flexed the arm around Rin and was thoroughly surprised when she felt all the muscles and bones smoothly contract without pain or any indication that something had broken. “What-”

“Later,” Sora hissed as she raised her free hand and set it against the canvas. Light flared around her hand.

Flames erupted and raced to eat the wood and material as shouts filled the air and people jumped from the burning wreckage, Jestiry among them with something black tucked under his arm. At the sight of him Sora hissed angrily, but made no move towards him as she carefully backed away from the flames she had created and avoiding the general chaos and trampling feet of the retreating slaves the flames had created.Soren stared at the dragon as though seeing her for the first time. There was a hard, bitter look to her eyes as she worked, forcing their way through the frightened mass of bodies towards the loose cluster of Jestiry and the slavers. Out of the crowd Sora grabbed someone and yanked them back as they tried to twist free of her grasp. “Sadi,” she said, her voice a dangerous growl. “Take Rin and head back to Sara.”Released, Sadi circled around to Soren and flashed her an apologetic smile as he took Rin from her. Reluctant though she was to hand the girl's care over to someone else she watched them go before she turned back to Sora. It was clear from the way she moved and maintained her grip on her wrist that the dragon had something in mind for her, some plan that was about to unfold. Some plan that she wouldn't be able to escape.“They will take care of her. You don't need to be burdened down by a human child,” Sora said softly. “For what?” Soren snapped.“Later,” she said again and tightened her grip for just a moment. “The hatching is complete.”Soren cast the woman a puzzled look as the crush of bodies left them and they had a clear view of the slavers, all of whom had their backs to them. They were within ten feet of the cluster and they had yet to be taken notice of. Sora hissed quietly again as a high-pitched scream wrent the air and made everyone flinch. Her hiss became a full-throated growl as she yanked Soren forward and tossed her through a gap in the slavers.She glimpsed fragments of the shell and a weirdly angled creature before she landed face first in the sand. Sputtering and spitting the grit from her mouth she was on her feet before they had a chance to realize what had happened. She blinked the sand from her eyes to see Jestiry was kneeling in front of the creature with black wings. Still covered in the membrane from hatching, the young dragon was mewling pathetically and backing slowly away from Jestiry's outstretched fingers and the…thing…he held with his other hand.She felt a sick jolt as she realized that the dragon was as blind as a newborn kitten. Not pausing to think, she dodged the reaching hands of the slavers and slammed her shin into Jestiry's side and kicked him to the side before she bent to scoop the dragon into her arms. At the first contact with the young dragon lightning shot through her body, bringing with it the image of a silver haired man towering over her as she clung to someone. She brushed it aside for later, if there was a later.Before Jestiry or the slavers could react they were knocked to the side by the snarling Sora. She moved faster than the eye could follow, tearing at those that still stood and doing enough damage that they were wounded but not dead. Jestiry was the first to recover. He was on his feet with a dagger in hand, his target Soren. The dragon's small body trembled in her arms as he turned his head blindly from side to side at each new sound, his sharp talons digging into her arm. A hard glint shown in his eyes even with the dim moonlight. She could see that he was pissed and meant to take the dragon from her even if he had to kill her to do it. The vision of her mother holding the carving knife still coated with her father's blood flashed through her head and flooded her body with an icy rage and adrenaline that made her want to kill.As he moved in, something white dove from the air and crashed into him; tearing, tearing, tearing at him. The smell of blood was suddenly prevalent in the air and her head spun; someone grabbed her wrist and pulled at her; she twisted free and struck one handed in the darkness and tripped over someone else's sprawled form. She caught herself on an outstretched arm and heard a distant snap. She was on her feet before the pain even registered, away from the sounds of distant fighting before someone tried to grab her again.There was a roar that made her shiver with primal fear, something that drove her hate away to be replaced with the fight or flight instinct and propelled her forward. The small dragon gave a soft mew and huddled closer to her chest before something closed around her waist and yanked her off her feet and into the air.Up, up, up they soared higher and higher until the wagons fell from sight and the desert fell behind them. The wind tore through her hair and lipped at her bare feet and the skin where her tattered clothes no longer protected, all the wile she maintained her grip on the young, black dragon.The sun was just beginning to rise when they dipped below the clouds and began to angle for the thick mountain forest beneath them and the dim light revealed the dark blue scales of a dragon with a sixty-foot wingspan. She didn't try to struggle, didn't try to scream. Strangely, she felt quite at ease in the dragons grip as though she knew the creature would not drop her; the same way she had felt within the red and gold dragon's grasp.When they finally touched down the dragon released her, her tail hitting the ground in a tired sort of way. She twisted her neck to look at her and the smaller dragon and touched her nose to Soren's arm. The dragon was careful not to scrape her arm with any of the horns that protruded from her ruff or catch any of her sharp teeth against her skin. Soren went stalk still as the smaller dragon snapped his teeth at the adult and huddled closer to her chest for warmth.“I thought you said that the collar would choke you if you tried to transform,” Soren said mildly.The dragon withdrew her nose and pulled her lips back in what could only be described as a dragon grin. “I lied. I've always had the strength to break it, but I've been waiting for the egg to hatch.”“But, then, why was Jestiry able to torment you with the thing and why the hell are we not dead?” Soren asked, sighing as she took a seat on the moss ridden ground.Sora flashed another grin before sliding back into human form, her clothes still somehow on her body. “I deactivated them.”With her bulk now out of sight, Soren could see three forms sitting awkwardly behind her. “Why'd you bring them?” she asked, nodding at Sadi, Sara, and Rin. The dragon glanced over her shoulder at the three humans. “They're decoys,” she said simply. “Jestiry won't want to give up two dragons without a fight and two groups of three will be harder to track across five kingdoms than one would be.”“You're forgetting something,” Soren pointed out as the nights previous excitement caught up to her and her broken arm began to throb in time to her heart. “I don't want to travel with anyone. That includes you; no, especially you. I don't want to travel with a dragon.”“You're out of luck them. You've touched a dragon hatchling,” Sora said with a bitter smile.Soren glanced down at the younger dragon, whom was now tearing strips out of her shirt and chewing on them. “So. You're a dragon, you can take care of him,” she retorted, ignoring the odd play of emotion that rolled through her stomach.“No, I can't,” she replied shortly. “It has to be you. A dragon hatchling won't accept anyone other than the first that touched them. Not while they're so weak and defenseless. You're like his adopted mother now.”“You chucked me at him. I didn't exactly have a choice,” Soren protested heatedly, even as she felt the certainty of Sora's words settle into her very bones. “That was the point,” Sora said with a shrug. “You weren't supposed to have a choice when there was a very good chance you would have refused.” She laughed bitterly before adding, “You were the only one suited to care for the hatchling, but you may leave it to die if you wish.”“You could take care of him,” Soren pointed out, feeling a knot tie in her stomach at the thought of leaving the defenseless creature to die.“No,” she said flatly. “I can teach you to raise him to be what he will be, but that is it. I cannot feed him in these first vital months because he will not accept any other. You saw the way he was moving away from Jestiry and you can feel the way he curls into your stomach now. Dragons can instinctively sense a person's aura from birth and they will seek out the one that will give them the best care and reject everyone else until they are of a certain age.”Much as she hated herself for it, she still refused the words. “Why should I be the one stuck caring for a rat?”That gave Sora pause. “Rat?” she repeated. “You think of us as rats?”“Yes, you are an over grown lizard rat bitch,” Soren snapped, allowing the anger she had long suppressed to surface a little. “Every time I run into one of your kind, nothing good ever comes of it. The first time I met Karu, he tried to kill me. The one he called prince ripped me from the world I knew and dumped me in this place without so much as an explanation of where the hell I was. Since the first time I met you you've been a pain in the ass and now this thing has been dropped into my lap and I'm being told that I have to be the one to raise him. I though I made it clear from the first time we spoke that I wanted nothing to do with your kind.”Sora paused and stared at her for a long moment. “How did a child such as yourself become so angry?”“What?”“I can tell when anger is fresh or when it is an old anger being used to protect oneself. You're using an old anger, an old hate to fuel your rage.”Soren pulled back slightly and turned her head away with a soft “tch.” This was what she hated most about Sora, the way she seemed to be able to read her so well. It was unsettling for someone that had hidden her emotions for so long and shown the rest of the a cold indifference to be read as though they were an open book for the whole world to see.Truth be told. She was uncomfortable whenever someone brought up the old wounds. It wasn't the betrayal itself that had done this to her, it had been what had happened afterwards that had driven her to cut herself off from the rest of the world and she liked remembering what had happened any more than she like remembering that she was of that woman's blood.Sora watched her for a moment, sighed, and then turned away to discuss something with Sadi and Sara. Obviously, she had hit a sore point on dredging up the past and had driven the girl into a corner. If there was one thing she didn't want, she most certainly did not want her disappearing, especially with how young the small dragon was still. Building a relationship with the girl would be trickier than she had thought and would require more patience than she had. Well, it couldn't be harder than keeping a ruler in check. Could it? The trees around her rustled softly as the wind riffled through them and brushed across her face. She jerked away as the carcass of a doe appeared at her side, her red hair swaying down her back. Something soft brushed against her broken arm, setting the bone to throbbing again and forcing her to bite her tongue to keep from screaming. Food for the young one. Let him eat, the soft voice whispered to her.The dragon stirred in her lap at the scent of food and jumped towards it before Soren could think to stop him. She watched with sick fascination as he tore haphazardly at the doe and slurped the strips of meat down, revealing his very sharp, very small teeth. “Sora?” she asked softly. “Do they always eat solid food right after hatching?”Sora turned her head to look at them. “Usually they just drink the blood of whatever warm blooded animal their parents or caregivers killed for them, but, yes, they can eat meat right after hatching. Did your Kingen get that for you?” she asked with a frown.“What Kingen?” Soren asked coolly. She cast her a quizzical look as she asked, “Did Tengra not explain what they were during any of those…ah…visits you paid her?”“First one I was unconscious, second one was interrupted by you throwing that fit, third one and on I was too delirious to ask questions,” she retorted. “Now, what are they?”“Familiars that attach themselves to either a dragon or an imagi at birth,” Sora said, studying her for a moment. “Are you part imagi?”“No,” Soren said flatly. “Why is she attached to me and how the hell do I get rid of her?” You can't, nor can you order me away, the voice said amusedly. And yes you are part imagi, your mother was a quarter. Suck it up and deal with it because you're stuck with me until one or both of us dies.“Do they attach themselves to you like a host until one of you dies?” she asked before Sora could answer her first question.“Yes. Did your Kingen tell you that?”“No, I thought it up on my own, you jackass,” she said bitingly.Sora deftly ignored the comment as she said, “Well, it would seem that your Kingen is one that speaks directly to you and only you. May I see her?”Tell her I respectfully decline. I've no intention of meeting her Kingen up close, the voice said coolly.“Tell her yourself,” Soren snapped with enough force to startle the feeding dragon and make him turn his head to her to listen for more sounds.“Are you talking to her or me?” Sora asked, slightly puzzled by the vehemence in the younger girl's voice.I speak only to you, jackass, or did you not hear her. I carry no human voice with which to communicate to other Kingen, demon, dragon, imagi, griffin, human, or any other sort of beast you would wish to name, she said tartly. So you tell her that I respectfully decline until such time that you are in danger or you call me.“Fine, then appear,” Soren snapped back.By name. Call me by name and I will appear to do your bidding, but, until then, shut up, brat, she retorted calmly.Sora studied the flush that was slowly creeping up her neck and said, “You don't know her name so she won't appear for you. Rare, but not unheard of.” She turned back to Sadi and continued their conversation where they had left off, completely ignoring Sara and Rin.Soren shook her head and glanced at the hatchling, whose muzzle was dripping with the still warm blood of the doe as he stared blindly in her direction. Almost as though he sensed her emotions he walked calmly back to her and crawled back into her lap where he tasted the air by flicking his tongue in and out. When his tongue flicked her arm a curious sensation like water running over her bones flitted through her body and she felt herself relaxing, the pain ebbing away from her broken arm.“Sora?” she asked as she flexed her fingers in wonder. “Hm?” Sora looked back to Soren, stopping her conversation mid-sentence.“Is he a healing type?”“Perhaps, why?”“He just healed my arm,” Soren replied, looking keenly at the older dragon and trying to discern the emotions she saw flitting across her face.Sora turned away from sad entirely again and closed the distance between them and knelt beside her. When she reached for the arm Soren was flexing and staring at with mild curiosity the girl slipped her wrist away from her. She saw the expression in her eyes shift ever so slightly and realized that she was retreating. Retracting her hand, she gave the girl a puzzled look as she said, “Are you sure it was him and not your Kingen? Familiars are known to have healing abilities they reserve for only their masters.”I didn't touch you. It had to be him, her familiar responded.Soren relayed this news to Sora, giving the older dragon cause to frown. “He's only a few hours old, so it's hard to tell. Normally, a dragon doesn't show their abilities until at least a week after the birth or hatching. I'd say it was a random release of power and to wait until you officially declare him a healer, fighter, or otherwise.”Soren looked up at her, her eyes still a blank slate. “Birth or hatching?” she asked cautiously. “What is that supposed to mean? Is it something different?”She grimaced at what she had let slip. There was one of two choices: avoid and deny or answer her truthfully. Staring back into those mistrustful eyes she had a flash of insight and felt a stab of something she hadn't felt in almost the fifty years since she had abandoned her Riagenkai post.A moment of deafening silence filled the air between them for what seemed an eternity. “Dragons have the ability to interbreed with humans, so a dragon is either born through human birthing or the hatching of an egg. A dragon born by a human female is rare due to the simple fact that my race is extremely stingy about blood when it comes to the pureness of their lines,” Sora sighed. “Idiotic, stupid traditions that will eventually result in our interbreeding and becoming infertile.”Sadi and Sara gaped at Sora in open amazement. They had been brought up to believe that the interbreeding of humans and dragon was not only impossible, but absolutely forbidden. Yet, here was a Riagenkai refuting that very fact. If that old tale was false, then what else was a lie?Watching her for a moment, Soren took stock of the information she had been given. So, even here there were prejudices that hardly made sense. Hatred for elves because they were different, pureblood mania among the dragons, and who knew what else. “What happens to the halfbloods if you dragons are so proud of your purity?” she asked softly.“Dragon Officials are sent to kill them or the humans do that deed themselves,” Sora said, gazing into the distance as though lost in memory.“Why?” Soren asked, feeling her fingers run over the rough, midnight black scales.“A halfbreed is both races and yet accepted by neither,” Sora said coming to her senses a little. “They are despised by pureblood dragons and feared by full humans. It is rare for such a dragon to survive his…or her…first few weeks of life, though there have been exceptions in the past, but only the strongest.”“Who?”“You've met him. The last surviving one of the two you originally met,” Sora said, her gaze returning fully to focus on the girl, the child. “Red and gold. Bronze skin, eyes like the sea. He's the one halfbreed that has lived through the hatred of his races and grown to see the new moon of his prime. Not one dragon will touch him unless his father orders it, because he is the bastard prince and only heir to the dragon throne.”Soren raised an eyebrow at that. “What was he doing with me then?” she asked. “Why was he searching for me in the first place?”“He's Riagenkai. If you can't figure it out from there then you're a worthless lump of flesh,” Sora said shortly as she turned sharply back to Sadi, leaving Soren to glower after her.Shall I… No, Soren cut across her. No need to start something you can't finish.She means to travel with us.I'll ditch her.She'll follow your scent.Can you erase it?Not to the degree that a dragon couldn't follow the faint trail I'd still leave.Is there any way to ditch her?No.Fat lot of fucking help you are.I'm your familiar, not a miracle worker. Though, in your case that may be the exact same thing.Soren felt the Kingen's presence withdraw from her mind, leaving her feeling flustered and even angrier. For the ten years of her life she could remember she had always known that there was something that followed her and protected her and drove away those that meant to harm her, but it had never thought to tell her who and what it was nor had it seen fit to tell her when it would help or not. Now, now that she knew she was there her familiar was content to remain unnamed and frustrate her to no end with the unhelpful answers and the way she could invade her mind without warning.Rising to her feet she wasn't really aware of her surroundings as she spun away from the sight of the older dragon talking to Sadi and Sara. She cradled the young dragon to her chest, fully aware of the responsibility that had been forced upon her shoulders as she walked away from them.Skirting around the half devoured carcass she made her way into the forest. Don't trip, the Kingen said warningly.Shut up, she snapped and the Kingen withdrew. She walked relentlessly for what might have been eternity and finally stopped before an old oak. Looking up at its immense branches she suddenly felt the tugging of a forgotten memory. Shoving it away she circled around its trunk until she found a branch just right to pull herself into its leaves one-handed. Mentally and physically exhausted she settled into a comfortable cook that formed between two adjoining branches and leaned her head back against the rough bark. As though he could sense her weariness he turned his head to look blindly at her as he settled into her lap. His tongue flicked out to test the air and brushed against her skin with a feather light touch.Soren sighed softly and closed her eyes, allowing her natural calm to sink into her body. What was it about this place that made her emotions rise to the surface? What was it that made these tuggings of forgotten memory appear? Why was it so different here for her than it had been at…the old place? Was it the dragons that had suddenly appeared in her life? Or was it something else, something more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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