“So, he really is planning to accompany you all the way to Horne, then?” Pearce asked while looking over the list of herbal supplies that Delno had handed him.
“He won’t be talked out of it,” Delno replied. “He has become convinced that he is fated to go. Personally, I’d feel better if he’d stay in Palamore or return here until this is all over.”
“One thing I’ve learned about my former master is that once he has made up his mind to do something, he sees it through,” the physician replied. “I’ll see to it that these items are packed and ready to go when you are.”
“No, I’m afraid you’ll have to send them by courier,” Delno responded. “We will be leaving for the north in the morning and won’t be back in Palamore for at least a fortnight, maybe more.”
“Leaving in the morning?” Connor exclaimed, “I thought you’d at least stay a few days.”
“I’m sorry,” Rita replied, “I thought we explained that we have to get to Corice as quickly as possible.”
“Yes,” Delno added, “we were going to wait until the trouble in Horne had been dealt with to go and try to open diplomatic relations with Corice, but events are not going well in the south, and now, with the death of a Rider down there, we decided it would be best to try and get all the help we can.”
“I was just hoping to spend a little time flying with other Riders.”
“Oh, not getting on well with the men at the garrison?” Delno asked.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong; the men are good to me, and my sword practice is going very well. However, they don’t seem to know how to treat me. I’m a Rider and earn my pay, and they’ve been taught all their lives to respect Riders, but I’m still a fourteen-year-old boy, so we don’t get chummy. Pearce is the only one in the city who isn’t a bit standoffish, but I rarely see him.” Then he added quickly, so as to not slight the healer, “He’s great company, but his healing skills are much in demand. When he has time, we talk quite a bit.”
“What about Tom and Jim?” Delno asked. “They’re closer to your age; don’t you spend time with them when you aren’t working?”
“They spend as much time as they can around me, but I just don’t like the way they either hero worship me, or show off to their friends when they’re around me,” Connor answered.
Delno laughed and said, “I had a conversation about such things as hero worship with a very wise man once. You may have heard of him; his name is Brock.” At the mention of his father’s name, Connor sat straighter and paid closer attention. “What you need to remember concerning those two is that they come from two of the poorest families in the area. They have little of worth in their lives, yet they need to feel that they do. Showing off their friendship with a Rider gives them status they could not have otherwise achieved. You don’t have to like it; in fact, it’s better if you don’t get to like it, but you should accept it for their sake.”
“I try, but it just irritates me,” the boy replied.
“Don’t worry about it so much; if you spend more time with them the novelty of being around a Dragon and Rider will wear off. I’ll bet that if you got couple of stiff-bristled brushes, the boys would be willing to fly to one of the streams with you and help you wash Jenka. Just remember to make sure they are strapped on before you get airborne.”
Connor wasn’t the only Rider in the room looking at Delno as if he’d suddenly taken leave of his senses.
Rita said, “You’ve got some purpose in mind other than making sure the boys all get along and have a good time, Handsome, but I’ll be darned if I can figure it out.”
“Well,” he said, smiling, “as you know, we are now caught up in Corolan’s grand scheme. However, I see no reason not to start implementing Delno’s grand scheme.”
”I suppose that’s why you and Brock sequestered yourselves for several hours before we left?” Rita asked.
“Of course,” he responded, “Brock and I had a great deal to discuss. We talked about Horne quite a bit, but that is just one of our problems, and it’s more of a symptom than a whole disease itself, and ultimately it’s we Riders who are responsible for it all.” He paused for a moment then said, “You see, in a way, Simcha wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Rita nearly jumped to her feet to make a retort to such a notion, but he quickly said, “Calm yourself, Beautiful, and let me explain. The Dragon Riders have become complacent. We expect to be treated well, and be given what we need for our services, but most of us do nothing to earn it. We’re little more than figureheads in most places. For all of the complaints that have come out of Horne about the Riders down there taking herd beasts or other goods without payment, those three were the only ones who regularly earned their keep doing what Riders claim to be pledged to do; protecting others.”
“And scant thanks they got for their troubles,” Adamus spat out.
Delno held up his hand and spoke before he, or either of the others, could get wound up. “Yes, scant thanks, until the Roracks once again began attacking in large numbers. For several generations those Riders flew patrols and kept the people so safe that those same people didn’t even realize they were in any danger. Things have changed and we’ve lost a good Rider and Dragon in the process, but that all just gets back to my point; people become complacent whether they are Riders or just average folks.”
He paused while he sipped his drink.
“So, this is the part where you tell us how that and Connor making friends with two local boys comes together, right?” Rita prompted.
“Exactly,” he responded. “The whole thing comes together because we don’t have any binding oath that Riders take.” They all started to object at once, but he held up his hand and said, “Let me finish. I have heard parts of a code that Riders are supposed to follow, but no one can recite this code. That’s because it doesn’t really exist; even Brock admits that. So, once the trouble in Horne is dealt with, Brock and I intend to remedy that situation.”
“You’re going to ask Riders to swear an oath?” Rita asked.
“Partly,” he replied, “but this is where we get back to the beginning, and I tell you what the boys have to do with this.” He deliberately paused while he again sipped his drink before continuing. “Most candidates are presented because of their parents’ political connections. It’s been that way for a very long time. Brock was one of nine candidates and only two of those boys had even the slightest chance of bonding: the rest were the sons of influential men. The problem is that most of those influential men aren’t connected to the Riders at all. They simply want to use the hatching as a way of gaining influence politically. That is what Brock and I intend to put a stop to.”
“So you’re going to select Riders from impoverished families?” Adamus asked.
“No, not necessarily from poor families,” Delno replied. “When I was here I noticed that the dragons liked those boys, even spent time talking with them without the Riders around. I asked Geneva about this when we were together in the Dream State, and she said the boys had potential to be candidates. Now that’s no guarantee that they will bond, but it means they have a chance if they are presented to a hatchling. The boys like us and have a chance to become friends with a young Rider. Those are the kinds of candidates that Brock and I are looking for; young boys with no political connections to anyone, but who are already our friends. Interestingly enough, we have two boys who are potential candidates, and Gina is carrying two female eggs; quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“I’ve got to stop leaving you and Brock alone for hours at a time,” Rita said, shaking her head.
“You don’t think it’s a good plan?” Delno asked.
“Oh, the plan is fine; I just don’t like you and him going off and rearranging the social structure of the world without me at least being there to watch,” she replied.
“Haven’t you forgotten one little point?” Pearce asked.
“The boys’ parents?” Delno replied, and the physician nodded. “Well, my
friend, that’s the last reason that we stopped here before moving on to Corice. Brock and I were hoping to enlist your aid in getting them to agree.”
“Now tell me that Nat wasn’t in on all of this,” Pearce said.
“Right up to his pointy ears,” Delno responded. “He’s the one who suggested you help, since it was you who arranged for the boys to become orderlies at the garrison in the first place.”
“How long do I have to convince these people to allow their sons to be presented?” Pearce asked, more amused than annoyed.
“Well,” Delno answered, “Gina is close to her time. Brock, Jason, and Lawrence are going to swing up this way within a fortnight so that she will clutch here in Orlean. Ideally, the boys should have the chance to see the eggs as soon as possible after they are laid.”
Later that night, Delno found himself sitting with Geneva on a large ledge, looking out on a reddish sky of swirling cloud shapes. He was always amazed at how real everything felt. He put his hand on Geneva’s side and he actually could feel her scales. “It’s good to be here tonight, Love,” he said.
“I’m happy you came. I would bring you more often, but you are usually preoccupied,” Geneva replied.
“I am sorry, Dear Heart; there have been so many demands on my time lately that I just haven’t had as much opportunity to indulge myself. I know that you are jealous of Rita, but my relationship with her is quite different from my relationship with you. It’s not her who keeps us apart; it’s all of the rest of my life.”
“I understand, Love,” she responded. “I’m actually getting over my jealousy towards her, and I have grown quite fond of Fahwn and the other dragons, as long as we don’t have to compete for food and attention. The rest of it isn’t your fault, or mine. We were not born to this world to be mediocre. We were born to grand families, and fate has put us in a time that requires us to take charge and help reshape the world.”
“Geneva, I do believe that you have grown up,” Delno observed. “That was a very mature sentiment.”
“Thank you, Dear One,” she replied. “I really think that the knowledge my mother passed on to me, coupled with the strength of our bond, has indeed matured me.” She looked at him suddenly and said, “Fahwn and Rita approach, so I need to tell you this quickly. I spoke to the old female again just before you joined me. I asked her name, and she didn’t answer. When I told her I would not speak to her again until she told me her name, she still refused, and accused me of being childish. Then she said something quite disturbing. She said that I would learn my place and that you and I would both learn respect for her and her rider.”
“That is interesting, Love, but she didn’t give any hint as to who she is?” Delno asked.
“No, she didn’t; in fact she got so upset that I would continue to question her that the other dragons ejected her for her outbursts. She had just left when you arrived. I feel that we have a powerful enemy, Love; don’t neglect your magic practice.”
“Yes, a very powerful enemy and I have a feeling about who that dragon really is,” he replied.
As Delno finished speaking, Rita and Fahwn came into view. They didn’t land; it was as if they had been standing there all along, and he couldn’t see them. He suspected that Geneva had prevented them from making contact until she had finished what she had to say. He quickly filled Rita in on Geneva’s revelation.
“Looks like you’ve managed to make a powerful enemy, Handsome. Better work hard at that magic practice; you may need it,” she said. “Hey, what’s so funny?”
As she had spoken, he had started laughing out loud. “It just seems that all of the females in my life tend to think alike; you just repeated Geneva’s sentiment almost word for word.”
“Geneva is highly intelligent and shows great wisdom. You should listen to her.” Rita responded.
“Thank you, Rita,” Geneva replied.
They sat for a few moments and then Rita asked, “So, care to fill me in on the rest of your plan, Handsome?”
“I told you my plan,” he answered.
“You told me the part of your plan you want the other Riders to know right now. You haven’t told me the rest of it yet,” Rita said flatly.
“There is more, but even Brock doesn’t know all of it,” he said.
She waited a moment and then said, “Well?”
He sighed before answering, “I don’t want to lay it all out right now, especially because much is still a work in progress, but I suppose you won’t let it go until I do.” He looked at her and said, “This stays strictly between me and you.” At her nod, he continued, “I’ve been coming to the Dream State a lot since I bonded, though not so much in the last couple of weeks.”
“I knew that, but what does that have to do with your plans?”
“Everything, beautiful but impatient one, everything. I have actually made some tentative contact with several of the wild females.” At her astonished look, he said, “It’s true; they have come to accept me here, and a few have been willing to have limited contact.”
“I don’t believe that any rider before you has made contact with the wild females here,” she said.
“My grandfather did.” He was again rewarded with a surprised look from Rita. “You know that there are about a hundred bonded female dragons, right?” At her nod, he went on, “Well, there are around three hundred wild females in the Dream State most nights. Now, we also know that not all wild females come here all the time. I’ve been doing the math, and I figure that there must be at least six hundred wild females, and perhaps as many as a thousand. I figured there had to be quite a few from my talks with Nat about breeding pools. Even with magic involved, you still need enough viable adults to prevent inbreeding.”
She pondered the numbers for a bit and then said, “But with that many dragons around, wouldn’t we see wild dragons more often?”
“That’s part of my point. We don’t see them because they live so far away from inhabited lands,” he replied.
“Where do they live, then?” she asked.
“Well, my sweet, from talking with the wild females, I’ve come to realize that there is a big world out there. I believe that the world we live in is much larger than any of us imagined. Think of it this way; we just came from Palamore this morning. We left just after dawn and arrived in Orlean not long after noon, and we made two stops to shift our passenger so we didn’t tire the dragons. That same distance took a week for Winston and his troops to travel at about eight leagues a day.”
“Well, dragons fly much faster than draft animals can walk. . . .” she began.
“That’s not the point. The point is that we tend to think of such distances as far because it takes so long for the average person to travel because he is limited to riding a horse, or going on foot. The distances involved aren’t as great as we think. When you actually do the math, eight leagues times eight days, it’s only sixty-four leagues, give or take a few miles. That works out to about two hundred miles.”
“I know you are going somewhere with all of this, but I’m having trouble following,” She said.
“Well, since we know that there are a hundred bonded dragons, and they pretty much use most of the territory we have available, then the thousand or so un-bonded females must take up a proportionately larger amount of land. There is a lot of space out there that is uninhabited.”
“Inhabited by trolls and Roracks, you mean,” she snorted.
“No, it isn’t. In the first place, dragons wouldn’t tolerate Roracks in their territory, or trolls either, for that matter. The Roracks are hemmed in pretty well. To the north is a range of very high mountains that are barren and extremely dangerous to climb; the rest of their territory is mostly bordered by Horne.” He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “According to the wild females to whom Geneva and I have been speaking, there are a number of somewhat dangerous animals in the unknown lands, but most are not intelligent, and only a few are active hunters. There are vast stretches of l
and that have been ignored since the end of the mage wars.”
“But why have these lands been ignored? We see that more land is needed. It seems to me that people would have claimed these lands long ago if they were viable,” she responded.
“Ah, but they don’t know they are there. The mages who waged war on a scale that threatened the very existence of all life on this world nearly destroyed those lands. The territories we inhabit now are what were saved from those wars by the elves and those mages who did work for the common good, but they are also ringed all around with mountains, which makes them isolated from what is beyond those boundaries. The boundaries were raised incidentally as a result of the powerful magic used in that war, but they have served to keep our lands and people safe from the devastation that occurred beyond those barriers. However, it’s been tens of thousands of years; I believe those other lands have healed.”
“So you intend for the Riders to take those lands?” she asked.
“No!” he answered quickly. “A nation of Dragon Riders would be a very bad idea. Dragon Riders are too powerful to become an independent force with their own country. I think it’s good for Riders to remain at least marginally dependent on those they are sworn to protect.”
“So, what then, just turn the lands over to whoever wants them? You keep twisting and turning, Handsome. Where are you going with this?”
“At first, I thought turning those lands over to any who would chance moving to them would be the way to go, but knowing that I face a two to three millennium life span gives me a different perspective on the situation as a whole. Before, when I thought of long term I tended to think of decades; now I tend to think in centuries. We have shortages all over. Here in Ondar, crops have failed. . . .”
“That’s because of drought,” she interjected.
“Partly, but it’s also due to over working the land. Fields should be allowed to spend a season sitting fallow every so often to recover. There are also things like crop rotation that aren’t happening. You can only get so much back into the soil by piling manure on it and growing the same crop year after year. It won’t be that long, by our life spans, until there will be shortages that will bring famine to entire countries.”
Dragon Blade Page 3
