Something Wyverian This Way Comes

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  “It’s Pryllan. Hang on; let me see what she wants.”

  Hi, Pryllan. It’s me. Is everything okay?

  Is Sarah with you? Will you meet me at the valley?

  The valley south of Lake Raehón? Sure. When?

  Now.

  Okay, I’ll have Sarah take us there. Do you know where those large boulders are near the southern edge of the valley?

  I do.

  One of them is a dwarf door. We’ll meet you there.

  I have often wondered if that group of boulders concealed an entrance to their realm down below. Now I know.

  Whoops. Don’t tell them I told you that.

  Agreed.

  “We need to head north. I don’t know what the problem is, but Pryllan sounded worried. Remember that large boulder that was a dwarf door in disguise? That’s where she’s going to meet us.”

  Sarah nodded. “No problem. Ready?”

  Steve tossed his water bottle back on the bed.

  “Ready.”

  In the blink of an eye the stuffy air of their cottage in the Lentarian capital of R’Tal was replaced with a cool mountain breeze wafting gently from the north. They could smell the nearby pine trees; they could detect traces of moisture coming from the large freshwater lake sitting off in the distance as well as pick up the fragrant scent of numerous wildflowers all scattered about. They both inhaled deeply. Even though the two of them lived in the northern Idaho panhandle, and Coeur d’Alene sat in the middle of a forest bearing its name, the scents assailing them now were nothing like what they could smell from their property back home. Perhaps it was the lack of industrialization.

  “I’ll never grow tired of this,” Sarah observed as she shielded her eyes and looked around at the quiet, serene valley. “So where is she?”

  “I’m here,” a voice said from directly behind them.

  Steve and Sarah both jumped and whirled around. Pryllan was there. How dragons could move with such stealth Steve would never know. He was glad, though, to see his friend.

  “Pryllan! It’s good to see you again!”

  “And you.”

  “Is everything alright?” Sarah asked, concerned. “Steve seemed to think you sounded worried.”

  “I am worried.”

  Steve shared a look with Sarah. What could possibly worry a dragon?

  “Can you tell us what’s going on?”

  Pryllan cast a nervous look around the valley.

  “Not here.” Pryllan opened one of her mighty claws. “If you will allow me.”

  Not showing the slightest bit of hesitation, Both Steve and his wife sat companionably down into the open palm.

  Pryllan gently cupped her two claws together. Both humans felt the huge dragon bunch her muscles and then they were launched straight up. Extending her wings as soon as she hit the peak of her jump, Pryllan banked to the right. Once the western Bohanis were before them she leveled off and started flapping her wings to gain altitude. Higher and higher she rose as they flew out over the western shores of Lake Raehón.

  The valley fell behind them, replaced by numerous mountains, some covered with nothing but rock and others having every square inch covered by trees. One barren peak, completely devoid of any type of greenery, appeared farther west. Pryllan dipped her wings and angled herself toward the mountain.

  As they neared the mountain they could see a black dot high up the southeastern side, facing the distant valley. Also visible was enough room just outside the cave entrance for a dragon to bask in the sun. This is what it looked like Kahvel, Pryllan’s mate, was doing. The gold dragon’s head jerked up and he watched them approach.

  Landing softly next to her mate, Pryllan waited for the two humans to reach the ground before straightening back up.

  “Hello, Kahvel.” Sarah smiled up at the imposing figure of the golden dragon. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Kahvel nodded at her. “Sarah.” His golden eyes fixed on Steve. “Good day to you, Steve.”

  Steve was silent as he studied Kahvel. He was the first dragon he had ever met and as such, he was still the largest, provided he didn’t include the king of sourpusses, Rinbok Intherer, Dragon Lord. Granted it had been a while since he had spent any time amongst the wyverians, but he could still see that something was bothering the powerful dragon.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Steve inquired. He ignited his hand and generated a chaser, which he spun on his index finger. “Who’s ticked you off? Let’s go kick their butt together. What do you say?”

  The tiniest trace of a smile appeared on Kahvel’s reptilian face before the dragon was able to compose himself.

  “If only it were that simple,” Kahvel’s deep voice rumbled.

  “What’s going on? Why have you brought us here?”

  Kahvel shook his head.

  “I did not bring you here.” The golden dragon nodded his head toward his mate. “She did.”

  “How did you manage to give us both the same dream?” Sarah wanted to know. “That was both creepy and impressive at the same time.”

  Pryllan smiled cryptically, but remained silent.

  “So what’s going on?” Steve asked again.

  Kahvel finally stirred. He lifted his neck up and swung his head to the left to look east.

  “I believe we are under an attack.”

  “Excuse me?” Steve stammered.

  He stared in shock at the gold dragon. Steve and Sarah eyed each other nervously. What creature in their right mind would dare to take on the dragons? Steve noticed that Pryllan had bared her fangs. Clearly this must be a sore subject for her.

  “You don’t know that for certain,” Pryllan all but growled.

  “How many have we lost now?”

  “Excuse me?” Steve repeated, raising a hand. “Lost? You lost some dragons? As in some dragons have lost their lives?”

  Sarah clapped her hands over her mouth in horror.

  “They have not succumbed,” Pryllan told Steve, glancing briefly down at the human. “Not yet.”

  “But they will,” Kahvel spat. “You have not seen what they’ve become. Listless. Lifeless. They wait to die.”

  “This is more serious than we thought,” Steve whispered to Sarah.

  “I will NOT allow Pravara to suffer the same fate!” Kahvel all but roared. Steve and Sarah inadvertently took several steps back. “This must be stopped and must be done so NOW! We need to act before it’s too late!”

  “Um, who’s Pravara?” Sarah asked in a quiet voice.

  Pryllan stared at Kahvel a few moments longer, as if daring him to lose his temper once more. When Kahvel finally looked away Pryllan’s demeanor softened. She nodded towards the cave.

  “She’s there. She was sleeping, but I’m sure she’s awake now.”

  Sure enough they could hear something stirring in the far recesses of the dark cave. The noises grew louder as whatever was in the cave headed towards them. They heard a soft rasping sound and then the creature moved into the sunlight.

  Sarah went all mushy.

  It was a baby dragon.

  Chapter 2 – Family Values

  The young dragon was twice the size of a baby elephant. It had scales that were of the darkest, deepest forest green color that either of them had ever seen. As soon as the sun hit the creature, it sparkled with radiance. Sarah saw that each of the baby dragon’s dark green scales was edged with a thin line of gold, no doubt due to Kahvel’s golden coloring. The baby’s thin leathery wings were folded flat against its back. The dragonlet sniffed the air and then turned to look pointedly at the visitors as if noticing for the first time that were a couple of non-wyverian beings present.

  “Awww! That has to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” Sarah wanted desperately to go over to the baby and cuddle it but was unsure how docile a baby dragon would be.

  Pryllan looked with undisguised pride down at her offspring. She clicked her fangs together to get the baby’s attention. Once she had it, Pryllan inclined her
neck towards the humans.

  “Pravara, we have guests. These are…”

  “Humans!” Pravara finished for her mother. As soon as the young dragon noticed that she had become the center of attention, the dragonlet frantically rushed to her mother and hid behind several coils of Pryllan’s green tail. Pravara peered suspiciously at them from the safety of her mother’s side.

  “Pravara, don’t be rude. This is Steve, and the female is his mate, Sarah.”

  Pravara inched away from her mother and gradually approached the two newcomers. The dragonlet sniffed cautiously, familiarizing herself with their scents. Once that dangerous task had been successfully accomplished she turned tail and fled back to the safety of her mother. Two large golden eyes watched the proceedings from a much safer distance.

  “She’s adorable,” Sarah told the two dragons. “How old is she?”

  “She hatched almost ten months ago,” Pryllan answered.

  “Wow. Is she big for her age?” Steve stared with fascination at the strikingly dark green creature before them. He squatted down and smiled at the dragon baby who was staring at him with equal curiosity. “Do young dragons grow quickly?”

  Pryllan nodded. “Kahvel disagrees but I maintain if you watch her long enough she will grow right before your eyes.”

  Sarah smiled. “All parents say that, Pryllan.”

  “Wyverians will generally reach their adult size in a few years,” Kahvel informed them. “Pravara is actually small for her age. She must take after her mother.”

  Pryllan’s head jerked up. She stared at her mate.

  “It’s just my own opinion,” Kahvel hastily added.

  Steve held out a hand, as though he was facing a stray dog.

  “Hi there! I won’t hurt you. Neither of us will. Look at those pretty golden eyes. I’ll bet you get into all kinds of trouble, don’t you?”

  Pravara blinked her eyes a few times as she studied him.

  “Lots of trouble,” Pryllan agreed.

  Pravara glanced up at her mother before returning her gaze to Steve. It was as if the little dragon was unable to look away. Her large golden eyes glanced briefly at Sarah before returning to Steve.

  “Dr. Dolittle strikes again,” Sarah murmured as she also noticed the young dragon’s fascination with her husband.

  “What is doctor dolittle?” Kahvel asked.

  “It’s just something I always say,” Sarah explained. “It means Steve can make friends with just about any creature out there. Dogs, cats, birds, and apparently dragons.”

  “Where is the peanut?” Pryllan suddenly asked. “It has been some time since I’ve seen the little creature. Is it well?”

  “Are you asking about Peanut, our corgi?” Steve asked the dragon. “I’m sure she’d love to see you again. Better yet, I’m sure she’d love to meet Pravara. As luck would have it, Peanut is here in Lentari at the moment. She’s been with Mikal in the castle for the past couple of weeks. You’ll have to stop by and say hello!”

  “Or we could bring Peanut here,” Sarah suggested. “It’d probably be easier.”

  “Okay, sure, go for the easy way out,” Steve laughed. “We’ll have to find a way to introduce Peanut and Pravara. That’s something I just have to see!”

  “At what age does a dragon begin to speak?” Sarah asked, curious.

  “Usually around four months of age,” Pryllan answered. “Once a dragonlet is eight months old then they begin to make their wants and needs known. Pravara, here, began speaking at three months, and was forming complete sentences by six months of age.”

  Becoming bolder by the second, Pravara eased away from her mother and approached Steve.

  “Where are you from?” the tiny dragon inquired.

  “Our home is a long way from here,” Steve informed the dragonlet. “Farther than a dragon can fly.”

  Pravara shook her head. “That’s not possible, is it? Father?”

  Kahvel stared down at his young offspring and hesitated.

  “In this case, it is, young one. Their home is so far away that they must use a portal.”

  “A portal?” Pravara paused a few seconds to think about the unfamiliar word.

  “It’s an aperture, typically jhorun in nature, which leads from one location to the next regardless of distance,” Kahvel answered, giving his offspring what sounded like a text book definition of a portal.

  Pravara’s golden eyes blinked rapidly while she thought about her sire’s answer.

  “She doesn’t understand,” Pryllan said to Kahvel. “She’s too young.”

  “I am not!” Pravara declared, baring her tiny fangs in an incredibly realistic impersonation of her mother. “I know what it means!”

  “Have you met many humans?” Steve good-naturedly asked the baby dragon.

  Pravara emphatically nodded her head yes.

  “Would you be referring to the two of us?” Sarah asked with a twinkle in her eye.

  The young dragon sheepishly nodded her head. A few moments later Pravara’s innocent gaze locked onto Steve once more.

  “What type of jhorun do you have?”

  “Pravara!” Kahvel snapped.

  The young dragon whipped her head around to stare at her sire.

  “We do not ask questions like that. Most humans do not like informing others of the nature of their jhorun.”

  Crestfallen, Pravara dropped as low as she could to the ground.

  “It’s okay,” Sarah quickly said; Pravara’s head perked up at this. “We don’t mind. We’re not from Lentari, so we don’t have the typical misgivings most humans have that live here.”

  Thankful for the swift intervention, Pravara timidly approached Sarah and stopped at a comfortable distance from both of her parents.

  “What is your jhorun?” Pravara asked again.

  “I can teleport,” Sarah told the young dragon. “Watch this!”

  Sarah disappeared. Startled, Pravara looked right then left.

  “Where did she go?”

  Both adult dragons sniffed the air.

  “She’s nearby,” Kahvel reported. “Somewhere south and at a lower elevation.”

  Pryllan looked over the side of the nest and down at the distant ground.

  “She’s there. She’s waving to me.”

  Pravara hurried to the edge of the nest and looked at the ground far below, but was unable to see anything. The dragonlet’s visual acuities, while impressive, were nowhere near her mother’s. Not yet, anyway.

  “I don’t see her.”

  “Your sight and smell won’t advance until your first year,” Pryllan told her. “You must be patient.”

  Sarah appeared back at Steve’s side, which was behind Pryllan and Pravara. Both mother and offspring were still looking over the edge of the nest.

  “I’m back!”

  Pravara jerked her head to look back at her. The little dragon trotted over to Sarah’s side and sat down.

  “You can move without moving!”

  Sarah smiled and nodded.

  Pravara sighed wistfully. “I wish I could do that.”

  Sarah touched Pravara’s wings. “Oh, yeah? You have wings! You can fly! Or will, someday. I’d love to be able to fly!”

  “I can fly now!” Pravara proudly declared. “Do you want to see? Look!”

  Pravara leapt into the air and spread her small wings. Hovering unsteadily in the air, the little green dragon was flying, albeit a little on the wobbly side.

  “You should show her your nose wiggle thing,” Steve joked, referring to Sarah’s ability to teleport objects without having the object vanish. It meant she could move objects about, as though they were guided by an invisible hand.

  “I don’t want to frighten her,” Sarah told her husband. “Maybe later.”

  Pravara plopped back to the ground and folded her wings. She turned to Steve.

  “What kind of jhorun do you have?”

  “Hoo boy,” Sarah mumbled under her breath. “Here we go.”
>
  Ignoring his wife, Steve faced the little dragon and ignited a hand.

  “Your hand is on fire,” Pravara helpfully informed him.

  Nodding, Steve ignited his other hand.

  “You’re burning,” Pravara told him again.

  “On purpose,” Steve remarked. He generated a basketball sized fireball and spun it on his finger.

  “Your jhorun is fire?” Pravara asked, amazed that the human could generate fire, let alone not be burned by it.

  “Yep. Watch this, squirt!”

  Steve created another dozen or so fireballs and let them hang suspended in the air next to the spinning chaser on his finger. He let the extra fireballs float harmlessly for a few moments before he sent them zipping around the perimeter of the nest. Kahvel and Pryllan watched the fireballs fly into their nest, prompting Pravara to hurry over to their cave to see what they were doing. Doubling back, the train of fireballs sped by her and back out into the open air before being called to Steve’s open palm. The last fireball didn’t make it; Pravara had snapped it up as it flew by.

  Chewing thoughtfully, the dragonlet looked at her mother with a surprised look on her face.

  “I can’t taste anything.”

  “Because nothing is there,” Pryllan informed her.

  “Yes there is,” Pravara argued. “I saw it burning. Something was burning.”

  “He made a fireball,” Pryllan tried to explain. “Steve doesn’t need any material to make one.”

  “Then how does it burn?”

  Exasperated, Pryllan looked at Kahvel, who shook his head ‘no’.

  “Don’t look at me. If you want a detailed explanation then I’d say you should consult the one who made the fireball.”

  Steve looked up at the huge gold dragon.

  “Excuse me?”

  “That fireball was of your doing,” Kahvel told him. “You’ve confused Pravara. It’s up to you to explain it in such a way that she’ll understand.”

  “Umm, okay. Pravara, look.” Steve sat down on a nearby rock and lit his right hand. “Ordinarily this would hurt like… well, it would hurt. My jhorun prevents my hand from burning. I can choose whether or not to let something burn. Since I don’t want to be in pain, my hand isn’t burning. Do you understand?”