Warlords Rising

by Honor Raconteur

“And starvation,” she observed practically. “How much of a struggle was it?”

  “I couldn’t hold anything down for about three days. But, well, I got over it.” He shot her a quick grin. “For a six year old, cookies can be a powerful motivating tool.”

  That made her laugh. “I think that’s true at any age.”

  “How many fish?”

  “With Trev? Better give me six.”

  “Six it—” Nolan cut himself off and glanced up. “Huh. It looks like you didn’t need me after all.”

  Before she could ask what he meant by that, her blue dragon friend returned, settling gently some feet away from them. In her claw was a fish the size of a man’s torso. She hopped forward and gently laid it in front of Becca.

  Becca was no fool. She knew good and well what this meant. Still, she had to ask, “Nol, any particular reason why she’s feeding me?”

  He had an enigmatic smile on his face as he answered, “I think you know the answer to that.”

  Yes, so she did. She didn’t really know what to do with it, though. Swallowing hard, she did not give the verbal thanks that she normally would have given but instead tried to emulate the dragon equivalent, one where she cocked her head and peered upwards with a soft sigh.

  This delighted the blue dragon to no end, her tail thumping hard enough to leave cracks in the top of the rock. She stretched forward to nuzzle against the top of Becca’s hair before bouncing once and taking off in a flurry of wings.

  Becca felt more than a little battered but she stayed her ground, somehow, and regarded the fish with open amazement.

  “You can’t find a better partner than her,” Nolan stated quietly, still resting on his heels. “I asked around, and spoke to her several times, and she’s one of the best fighters they have. She’s also one of the more intelligent. If you’re looking for a partner that can watch your back, Bec, I think you found her.”

  She’d had a feeling for the past two days about this dragon but still, the idea was a bit much to take in all at once. “I’m cooking dinner and sleeping on this.”

  “That’s fair. I’m glad at least one of you isn’t impulsive.”

  That was an odd statement. She gingerly picked up the fish and took it to the river to clean. “What do you mean?”

  “Trev’nor partnered with a dragon about an hour ago.”

  She nearly dropped the fish in the river. “He did what?!”

  Nolan gave an eloquent shrug as if to say he had no part in any of it, he was just the messenger. “I’ll let him explain it.”

  “You talking about me?” Trev’nor sauntered up and viewed the situation. “That is a huge fish. Good, I’m starving.”

  “Trev, put your stomach aside for a moment and tell me how this happened,” Becca demanded. “How did it happen? Your partnering?”

  “First, what are we doing with this?”

  “Fish stew and jerky. Only way to keep it all from spoiling.”

  “I’ll handle jerky if you handle stew,” Trev’nor offered.

  “Deal. Now start talking.”

  “Nolan flat out told me that Garth was hoping to partner with me. And I realized that I had grown to like him over the past few days. Honestly, Bec, we really can’t spend weeks and weeks getting to know every dragon before picking one. I mean, human judgment isn’t always right in choosing relationships. The dragons are better at it than we are. I chose to trust his instincts.”

  “You always make these snap decisions,” Nolan muttered to the air in general. He took over the cleanup, which was only fair, as they were the ones doing most of the cooking.

  With her hands finally free, Becca looked at Trev’nor squarely.

  “You named your dragon Garth?”

  “I didn’t name him that,” Trev’nor corrected her, “he named himself that. We tried to talk him out of it, honest, as it’s bound to get confusing. But he’s adamant. He likes that name, and it’s the only one he’ll answer to.”

  Becca sat back and roared with laughter. “You are not allowed to tell Garth this without me present. The look on his face is going to be priceless.”

  “I bet it is,” Trev’nor agreed, rubbing his hands in anticipation. “I swore Nolan to secrecy until we can see Garth face to face. It’s going to be a complete waste to tell him this over mirror.”

  “Truly.” Becca leaned over to stir the soup, but idly, as the fire wasn’t hot enough to make the soup instantly burn. Putting the spoon aside, she turned and crossed her legs, getting more comfortable. A thoughtful frown tugged at her forehead. “I do admit, though, you make a valid point. I’ve been struggling with the question myself because we have so many dragons that want to go. But it’s the blue dragon that I’m the most comfortable with.”

  “It’s been obvious to me and Nolan for a day now that you two are a good match,” Trev’nor offered. “I don’t understand why you’re hesitating, to be honest.”

  “It’s more like, I need a little time for the idea to settle before leaping.”

  Nolan’s head came up and he said, “Be back in a few minutes.” He promptly got up and left, heading for a cluster of dragons that were staring hard at the Life Mage.

  The newly partnered dragon swooped in and landed as delicately as a feather touching to ground, which considering his size, was amazing. He then went directly to Trev’nor and bumped him with his nose, arranging it so that he was curled up with his human ensconced against his side. Trev’nor indulged this selfishness without even a twitch and leaned back against Garth.

  “Welcome, Garth,” Becca said to him with the appropriate dragon gesture to accompany. Or as close as a human could emulate. “We are glad to have you with us.”

  He of course didn’t know all of the words she said but the sincerity came across just fine. Garth gave a happy snort. “My Trev.”

  Becca nodded sagely. “Yup, just as bad as Kaya.”

  Trev’nor rolled his eyes but didn’t deny it.

  As they waited for dinner to finish cooking, they all watched as Nolan tried and failed to extract himself from the group for the umpteenth time. “You think you have it rough picking a dragon partner? Put yourself in his shoes.”

  Garth stirred and pointed with his nose dead ahead. “Her.”

  Becca looked to where he pointed, but there was at least a half dozen dragons that Garth could mean. “Which one? White, black, green?”

  “White.”

  “What about her, Garth?” Trev’nor lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the setting suns.

  “Nolan needs her.” Garth canted his head, thinking, then rephrased. “She needs Nolan.”

  Now that was interesting. Garth, of course, had been in charge of the fledglings up until this afternoon, when he partnered with Trev’nor. He would know the younger dragons very well, being one of the guardians that raised them.

  “Why?” Trev’nor pressed.

  Garth hummed, thinking, probably trying to figure out how to use what words he knew to explain. Finally, he offered, “No words.”

  “No words?” Becca repeated slowly. “Do you mean she can’t speak?”

  “Speak?” Garth’s tone suggested he had an idea of what this word meant but wanted to be sure.

  “Words from me,” Trev’nor pointed to his own nose before pointing to Garth, “Words from you. Speak.”

  Garth’s head bobbed up and down a fraction. “No speak.”

  “A mute dragon. Wait.” Becca twisted to get a better look at her. “But I swear I heard her say Nolan’s name earlier.”

  “She has,” Trev’nor confirmed, staring hard at the dragon in question. “She hangs around Nolan often. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve seen her not at his side. She repeats his name all the time. Garth, what do you mean ‘no speak?’ We heard her say words.”

  “No dragon speak,” Garth explained patiently.

  “Ahhh,” Becca breathed, enlightened. “She can’t speak the way dragons can speak, so they consider her to be mute. But he
r vocal chords work fine, obviously, so she can speak with Nolan easily. That’s why you think he should pick her? Because she can’t talk with them anyway, so living in Chahir will be easier for her.”

  It made a great deal of sense. The dragons here understood that Nolan would only be in Khobunter temporarily, that he would be spending most of his life in Chahir. It had dismayed quite a few of them, as they realized that they would rarely get to see a member of their own kind if they chose the Life Mage. But with the white dragon, it wouldn’t be as much of a struggle for her, as she could communicate better with humans anyway. It would also be a bonus for her because if she did miss flying with other dragons, Nolan would likely just go dragon and play with her. After all, Nolan looked for excuses to go dragon all of the time.

  “Likes Nolan,” Garth informed them.

  “Good to hear.” Part of the mystery was solved, but… “What do you mean by Nolan needs her?”

  “Strong.” Garth opened his mouth, paused, and let out a frustrated huff. Lifting his head, he turned to Nolan and asked a question in Dragonese. “Ah. Strong fighter. Fast.”

  True, out of all the mages, the Life Mages had the lowest combat skill. That didn’t mean Nolan was defenseless, not by any means, but he had to physically fight while the rest of the mages could do ranged fighting. It put him into danger that led to injuries more often than not. To have a dragon fighting at his side that was strong and fast would be a blessing for Nolan. “That’s a good argument, Garth. You think Nolan will pick her?”

  Garth got this look in his eye that said ‘He’d better.’

  Right. Becca and Trev’nor exchanged a look and silently agreed right then and there that they were going to stay out of that little discussion. Neither of them wanted to put themselves between a rock and a hard place, no sir.

  Nolan finally won free of his adoring crowd and plopped himself down next to Trev’nor. “Becca, tell me dinner’s almost done.”

  “Almost,” she agreed. “Meat’s not quite there, it needs another few minutes. You starving?”

  “Completely.” Wiggling about, Nolan looked at Garth from the corner of his eyes. “Why are we talking about a certain dragon, hmmm?”

  Trev’nor started to roll up to his knees probably intending to escape, but Garth caught him around the waist and held him fast, tail pinning him down. The dragon’s head never turned as he spoke one-on-one with Nolan but the way he reacted made it clear that he had at least one eye on Trev’nor.

  Becca had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing as Trev’nor’s expression clearly said, busted buckets.

  Nolan got a disturbed frown on his face and turned to look at the white dragon. “She’s really that ostracized? I mean, I knew that no one tried to speak to her, but…”

  “Can’t you fix the problem, whatever it is?” Resigned to being pinned in place, Trev’nor gave his dragon a dirty look.

  “To be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea how it works,” Nolan confessed, palms spreading outward. “This is one of those ‘magic follows intents’ moments. Not even the dragons have been able to explain to me how it works. It’s almost telepathy, but with body language and certain tones from their vocal chords all blended together. Something in her mind is blocked, I think, so that she can only communicate with body language effectively. Even her vocal chords don’t seem to work the same way theirs do.”

  This confused Trev’nor. “But it works well enough for human speech?”

  “Our sounds are short, compact,” Nolan explained. “Theirs are long, deep, sustained. She can’t do sounds for more than about three seconds before her voice fails her. I took a look at her almost as soon as we arrived, as the dragon chief is worried about her, but I honestly can’t point a finger and say ‘this is the problem.’ I don’t understand enough about dragon anatomy to begin with. It will take a lot of time and in-depth study before I can figure out the cause and how to correct it.”

  “So to the dragons, she’s essentially mute.”

  “Worse,” Nolan sighed. “She’s basically deaf, too, as she can’t hear what they’re saying on most levels. They’re kind to her, but they don’t know how to deal with her.”

  No wonder she had been glued to Nolan since his arrival, then. It was probably the first time she had been able to speak to someone since her birth. “What is she like, personality wise? I mean from what I saw she seemed nice.”

  “Absolute sweetheart.” Nolan drew a leg up so that he could prop his chin on his knee. “Really, I think she’d be easy to live with. I’m just not sure I should offer a partnership because she needs my help. That seems a little….”

  “She needs Nolan,” Garth maintained firmly.

  Nolan fell to conferring with Garth in Dragonese again, so whatever they spoke of went over both Becca’s and Trev’nor’s head. After several minutes, Nolan looked away, toward the ground.

  “What did he say?” Becca prompted, voice quiet.

  “That she won’t ask.” Nolan looked sightlessly forward, not meeting any of their eyes. “She thinks that she’s abnormal, strange, and so doesn’t deserve to be my partner.”

  Ouch. Well, the low self-esteem made sense, really. Becca felt even more sorry for her now.

  “Do you remember?” Nolan asked, voice so small that it could barely be heard. “When we were told that we were mages, and that we could no longer live with our families, that we had to go somewhere else. Do you remember what you thought?”

  Becca did. Vividly. Even being eight years old hadn’t dimmed that memory. “That I was strange, and that’s why they didn’t want me anymore. It took a long time before I understood why they had made the choice to send me off on my own.”

  “It took me years to dispel that idea,” Nolan admitted sadly. “I felt wholly abandoned, no matter what anyone said to me, as I only understood that it was my magic that made me unwanted. I was always so glad when I could play with you,” he glanced up at Trev’nor with a small smile, “because I knew that I wasn’t alone. I think our situation might be similar to hers, but it’s different too. We eventually were put into a place where magic was normal, where everyone had a type of magic, and we grew up with them. She has no future like that.”

  “That’s just too heartbreaking.” Becca got that look on her face, the one that said she was going to get her way and destroy anything that tried to stop her. “Nolan. You talk to her. If she doesn’t want to go with you, then I’ll take her.”

  Nolan threw up a hand. “No. You know which dragon should be your partner. It’ll break her heart if you choose someone else. In fact,” Nolan’s tone went dry, “put me out of my misery and go ask her, will you? She’s driving me crazy.”

  “I’d like to, but…” Becca trailed off uncertainly, giving the white dragon a glance.

  “I’ll speak with her.” Nolan pushed up to his feet and walked to the white dragon, determination ringing with every step.

  Trev’nor watched him go, chewing on the edge of his thumbnail. “Are we all sure about this?”

  “Likes Nolan,” Garth assured him confidently.

  “And I think Nolan likes her,” Becca chimed in, taking the soup pot off the fire and giving it another good stir. “Really, I think the main reason why he’s been hesitating to choose a partner is because he knows that the dragon will be like Kaya, cut off from the clan. Even with this dragon, who can barely communicate with everyone, that’s going to be hard emotionally.”

  “Well, sure, but she’s partnering with the future King of Chahir. I mean, you know she’s going to be spoiled.”

  “Rotten,” Becca agreed cheerfully. “Which is why I think this is a good idea. She’ll have a much better future with Nolan, and I honestly think she adores him.”

  The tableau held its breath as they watched Nolan talk to the other dragon. She had crouched down so that their eyes were more or less on the same level. Becca knew the moment that Nolan had gotten the full question across, as the dragon literally pounced on hi
m. Wings, head, tail, all of it wrapped around the Life Mage in the most all-encompassing embrace the world had ever witnessed. Not a hair of Nolan could be seen.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Becca laughed, her heart warming at the sight.

  Trev’nor chuckled. “Look at them. She’s practically glowing with happiness.” He went taut for a moment. “Ah, Garth? The other dragons won’t pick on her because Nolan chose her, right?”

  “Pick?” Garth parroted, obviously not understanding.

  “Tease?” Becca offered.

  “Be mean?” Trev’nor waited for a beat, but when his dragon didn’t show any signs of comprehension, he rephrased again, “Not nice?”

  Garth shook his head (he was really adopting human mannerisms) in reassurance. “Stay nice.”

  Oh good. Dragons apparently weren’t the type to bully. Relieved, Trev’nor sank back against his dragon chair and watched as Nolan came back to the cookfire, this time with his own dragon in tow. Nolan had a smile bright enough to be a third sun, so happy that he couldn’t contain it. “So, as I’m sure you saw, she agreed to be my partner.”

  “We saw,” Becca assured him, giggling. Standing, she made her way to the white dragon and stroked her nose. “Welcome, pretty one. We are glad you are coming with us. Garth says you’re strong and fast, which is good. We leave Nolan in your care.”

  Someone, either Garth or Nolan, was translating Becca’s words as their newest addition was able to follow this seamlessly. She pushed into Becca’s touch, the tip of her tail thumping in a happy rhythm. “Becca-friend nice.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know you knew my name.”

  “She made sure she knew before coming over here,” Nolan explained.

  Becca understood what Nolan had said before, now that she was paying proper attention. Most dragons when they said words had a kind of echo effect to their voice. But not this one. She spoke the way a human would speak.

  Trev’nor rose up to greet her as well. “You know my name too?”

  “Trev’nor,” she responded promptly.

  “Wow.” He sounded sincerely impressed. “I have yet to meet a dragon that can pronounce the ‘n’ sound so well. You speak like a human would.”