by JManess
Sondra told herself that, but found it very difficult to convince herself in light of the time they’d already spent together. What monster would pull her from the clutches of sea serpents rather than leave her to her fate, and take flight to escape with his own life?
“I am sorry; I won’t act so foolishly again.” Sondra pushed aside her musings, telling herself that there remained plenty of time to worry about leaving Tolmac and returning home. She still had a great deal to learn.
“Of course you will, because that’s part of being young and learning. I will simply need to watch you more carefully and choose where I take you and what I teach you based on your experience.”
“Don’t be too careful! I want to learn as much as possible. Most of the lessons have been fun.”
“Hmm, most of them? Not all of them?”
“We-e-ell, I didn’t really enjoy hunting at first. But now I like it. And I 72
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wasn’t thrilled about having to fly. I like gliding but after today’s incident I am not so sure about going over water again.”
“Just remember to keep it simple. No aerial acrobatics until you practice the basics.”
“I saw you do it and you made it look so easy …” Tolmac sighed, covering his own embarrassment. He’d been showing off, trying to impress Sondra, he hadn’t thought she would attempt such a complicated maneuver herself. Now that he grew to understand her, he should have expected she couldn’t resist trying the feat. “I have been flying a very long time, little one.”
“How long? How old are you, Tolmac?”
“Old enough to know better, little one, and that is all I will tell you on that subject.”
“Know better about what?”
Tolmac just turned away without answering. He spread his wings in preparation to lunge into the sky. He glanced back over his shoulder at Sondra.
“Let’s return to my lair. You have learned more than enough for today.
Remember, no aerial tricks. Just take it slow and easy.” He leapt into the air and flapped his powerful wings, gaining altitude until he caught an aether updraft and circled above her. She paused, gathering her courage, avoiding looking again at the deceptively calm ocean, and followed him into the air, pushing past the pain and soreness in her back and shoulder muscles to reach the same current Tolmac glided on. They winged back to the lair together.
That evening, Sondra drowsed by the lava pit, the heat warming away the ache in her muscles. Her entire body relaxed and she felt strangely content, picking her lethal fangs with a charred bone from her dinner. Here, she didn’t worry about appearances, protocol or manners. Tolmac lie stretched full length on the other side of the pit, his massive head pillowed on his forelegs as he dozed. He didn’t seem to care if she acted ladylike. She supposed that acting like a lady would only make him hungry. Then she mentally blushed. He did say that magical beasts, dragons included, weren’t interested in human virgins.
She studied him from the corner of her eye, careful to shield her thoughts from his awareness as it stretched out over the lair and beyond. She wondered about what kind of female dragon Tolmac preferred. Did dragons even have a preference? Or did they simply find the first available female to mate with? She
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couldn’t ask Tolmac such a thing. It would be far too personal and embarrassing.
Plus, she discovered she wasn’t entirely certain she wished to know the answer.
For some reason, she wanted him to say that small, bluish-violet storm dragons were absolutely his type. She couldn’t fathom her reasons, but she came to the realization that she had developed a fancy for Tolmac. It didn’t help that her dragon body wanted him very much, all the time.
“Tolmac …” Sondra interrupted her own thoughts, uncomfortable at the direction they took.
“Hmm?” Tolmac replied sleepily. Sondra felt his awareness pulling back into his body. She made a mental note to ask him how he accomplished that, before making her request.
“Would you tell me a story?”
Tolmac opened his eyes and they glowed in the crimson shadows around them. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I’m just finding it difficult to relax after such a strange day. I hoped you could tell me some more dragon lore, maybe.” He shifted, pulling himself up into a sitting position and fixed his gaze on her. “You want to hear some dragon lore? You think it will help you relax?”
“I thought it might, yes. I like stories.”
“Humph!” Tolmac snorted thoughtfully as puffs of smoke shot from his nostrils. “I suppose I am fond of stories as well. It is fortunate for you, little one, that I made a hobby out of collecting them.”
“Really? Then you must know some good ones. Will you tell me one, please?”
Tolmac chuckled, a dark, rich sound that Sondra felt all along her body.
She barely restrained herself from stretching in pleasure. “I suppose I can part with a story. But you must listen, little one, and do not interrupt with a thousand questions.” He eyed her sternly.
“I don’t ask a thousand questions, only a few hundred.” Sondra scooted closer to Tolmac, inching her way around the lava pit until she felt the warmth rolling off his body. His wood smoke and hot metal scent enveloped her and she ruthlessly squelched the instant tingling in her body.
“Very well, only a few hundred. Tonight you must ask none, so that I may tell the story without losing my place.”
“I can’t imagine you ever losing anything, Tolmac.” Sondra sighed, settling in next to him in anticipation of hearing his story.
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“I don’t know, little one, I definitely feel like I’m losing something,” Tolmac replied, gazing down at the slender, feminine dragon lying so close to him in the warm, intimate shadows. “I will tell you the story of Solendar and Cindara, the first and second dragons ever created. Will that satisfy your desire, little one?”
“Yes! I definitely want to hear that story. I remember you mentioned Cindara before.”
“Then I shall begin.”
“In a time when the world was still young, the Creator of everything faced the emptiness of the Void and desired something more. So He created the cosmos and filled most of the Void with worlds. Then He realized that the worlds lie as empty as the Void and decided to create life, but in order for life to survive, He needed light. So He created the first dragon, Solendar. He formed the dragon from his own body and granted Solendar the divine flame, and then He sent him to light the stars, the suns of all the worlds. Solendar blazed brighter than the brightest sun, his heart filled with joy and a sense of purpose. He gloried in bringing light and warmth to all of the Creator’s worlds so that life could thrive there.”
“Solendar loved the new life thriving on all the worlds so much that he often settled in to watch the many different creatures, humans, animals, magical beasts, move about their new lands. During his visit to one of these worlds he first met a human woman. He had never seen such a sight and, like all of the Creator’s children, he found her absolutely fascinating. He watched her live her life on the harmonious world the Creator gifted her and her mate.
Soon he grew obsessed. Unlike the other creatures, this human woman seemed different. Her unusual beauty drew him and he fell under her spell. He changed his form so that he could be closer to her, taking on the shape of a human male. When she saw him she decided she preferred him to her own mate, the one the Creator fashioned for her. So she spurned her mate and instead chose Solendar. Her human mate petitioned the Creator, and the Creator realized that he must intervene.”
“Realizing that Solendar must suffer loneliness after so many millennia lighting the stars, the Creator fashioned a soul mate worthy of his greatness.
He created Cindara, the second dragon ever made. He made her the most resplendent dragon in all creation; a vision beyond even Solendar’s blazing glory. He
gifted her with the power to travel anywhere she wished and the
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ability to make or destroy doorways to any of the worlds. He made her kind and loving and absolutely perfect.”
“The Creator went to Solendar and told him of his gift, insisting that Solendar come meet Cindara. Solendar refused, so captivated by his human female that he spurned Cindara sight unseen. The Creator grew angry and determined to punish Solendar by making his human woman and all humans thereafter mortal. In a short span of time, her beauty faded and her bones grew crooked and brittle. She aged before Solendar’s eyes and nothing he did could stop her from dying.”
“Solendar grew incensed and bitter at the Creator. His divine fire left him as he severed all ties to the one that gave him life. Soon, darkness and emptiness consumed him and his love for all life turned to hatred. He began to swallow the stars, suns of a thousand worlds, condemning countless living creatures to death. The Creator despaired, unwilling to destroy Solendar, but unable to allow him to continue his devastation. Cindara convinced the Creator to allow her to trap Solendar in the Void, claiming that in the emptiness of nothing, perhaps his own emptiness would not appear so lonely. And so, Solendar threw away his soul mate and his freedom for a human female.”
“That is so sad,” Sondra sat up, watching Tolmac. “Cindara must have felt so hurt by his rejection.”
“Well, she did consign him to the Void so I gather she wasn’t too pleased.”
“But if he truly loved the human woman, why did the Creator act so cruelly, why didn’t he allow them to remain together?”
“Love? What is love for a human? A paltry word to describe the lukewarm emotion those humans feel for each other. The Creator offered Solendar a soul mate, created especially for him and worthy of his glory! A human isn’t a worthy meal to a dragon, certainly not a dragon god like Solendar.” Tolmac shook his head at Sondra, amazed at her naivety.
“Do you really hate humans so much, Tolmac?”
“Me? Why would I hate humans? Why would I feel anything for them at all? They are beneath us; we are dragons! We are the superior race, little one. Do not forget that even though humans display some intelligence, they are not equal to us. You will jeopardize your future and your freedom if you allow them close to you. That is how they trap you, and the next thing you know, you are wearing a collar and shackles and heating some wizard’s castle.”
“Have you ever allowed a human close to you, Tolmac?” 76
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Tolmac remained silent, his mind closed behind an impenetrable shield.
Sondra experienced a renewed determination to never let Tolmac know the truth about her. The way he told the story, it became clear that he blamed the poor human woman for Solendar’s downfall. Of course, Tolmac would never love a human. Sondra reminded herself that it was a good thing she hadn’t done something foolish and fallen for a dragon that viewed all humans as inferior.
She thanked Tolmac for the story and lay back down to sleep, ignoring the dull ache originating from somewhere in the vicinity of her chest.
Tolmac watched her, concerned by the darkness in her aura that spoke of sadness. What had he said? Had she encountered humans in the past? Had she ever cared for one at one time? He growled at the thought of her meeting some gilded human knight, out to charm her rather than slay her. He wouldn’t tell her about the humans he’d befriended; they were the exceptions to the rule, of that he felt certain. He didn’t want his experiences to convince her to try and make friends with some strange human, especially not a human male. Imagine!
A dragon actually loving a human, and his soft-hearted storm dragon actually felt sorry for the human. He grumbled as he folded himself to sleep, thinking that Aquea proved right about one thing; he should have investigated Sondra’s past before taking her under his wing.
Sondra tossed and turned in the lava glow. She fell asleep thinking about Solendar changing his shape into a human. She wondered if that was only an element to the tale or something dragons could actually do. After all, if a human could become a dragon, couldn’t a dragon become human? Maybe even a dragon like Tolmac? She wondered what he would look like as a man. That thought chased her into sleep and her dreams conjured up a dark-haired man whose face remained frustratingly out of sight in the shadows. She was human again, a princess in her own body, wearing her most elaborate ball gown. Her dreaming mind furnished a ballroom around them, crowded with dancing couples. Now her dream man wore a mask, but Sondra could see his shapely lips and his glowing red eyes. He bowed to her and asked her to dance, his voice as deep and rich as Tolmac’s always sounded in her mind. She curtsied and accepted, and he swept her into the dance, mingling with the other couples in the ballroom.
In her dream, the man moved gracefully, comfortable with his human form.
He held her close, and her waist and hand tingled where he touched, warming from his body heat. Their breath mingled, and he smelled of wood smoke and
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molten metal and something else, indefinably male and exotically powerful. He dipped his head to kiss her and she pursed her lips, closing her eyes. Suddenly she heard a sharp scream and the sound of a sword unsheathing. Her eyes snapped open and to her horror, Derek stood between her and her dream man.
He held a sword to the masked man’s throat. Sondra shouted and grabbed his arm but he pushed her away even as he called out to the great Creator. Then Derek’s face changed and the ballroom melted away. A new stranger stood in Derek’s place. A stunningly beautiful woman that moved to block Sondra’s view of the masked man, she turned to Sondra, gently pulling her away from her dream man.
“Tolmac is a dragon. He can never love a human woman. You must go, find the wizard and return to your own life and your own love.” The beautiful woman dragged her farther and farther from the masked man, until he faded out of sight. The woman released her and then backed away, her appearance changing. Suddenly she no longer stood but floated, the lower half of her body that of a jewel-encrusted sea serpent that disappeared into the shadowy floor beneath them. Cerulean waves crashed over her head and shoulders in the place of hair and she wore a cruel and mocking expression as she regarded Sondra.
“You aren’t worthy of him and you know it, human. Leave him; he would hate you if he knew the truth.”
“Who are you?”
“I warned you, princess. If you remain with him any longer it will only bring you heartache when you realize that you cannot have him.” A look of pained sadness passed swiftly over the strange female’s face before she scowled at Sondra and turned away, disappearing into the darkness of Sondra’s dream.
Sondra jolted awake, unaccountably relieved to find herself back in her dragon body. She glanced over at Tolmac where he lay sleeping peacefully. The sight of him scared her, not because of his fearsome aspect but because she finally admitted to herself that she was falling for him and she didn’t know what to do about it.
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CHAPTER 9
✥
How do I begin collecting my own hoard?” Sondra lounged next to Tolmac, studying a sleek sword she’d selected from his hoard earlier that ten-cycle. For some reason, that particular sword attracted her above and beyond all of the other treasures and gems in his hoard. It wasn’t particularly ornate and boasted not one gemstone in its hilt. Th e worn
and pitted blade and the blackened leather wrapping the grip showed years of continued use. Still, the sword seemed to hum with energy. Some force surrounded the nondescript weapon, and despite an undoubtedly violent history, that force did not feel malevolent.
Tolmac glanced up from his own scrutiny of his hoard, returning from his journey through memories long past. “Hmm? Ah yes, starting your own hoard.
That is an admirable goal. Most dragons possess piles of gold and at least some gems in their hoard
by the time they reach adulthood.”
“Where do I find such things?”
“Now there is the trick. Some dragons simply demand tribute from lesser races and form their hoard from that. Other dragons steal the majority of their hoard.”
“I don’t want to do any of that! I want my hoard to be like yours, a collection of memories and trophies from adventures!”
“Good, I hoped you would say that. I have never resorted to tributes or theft for my hoard. Only weak dragons do such things. A hoard should represent your strength and intelligence. I quested for many of these items, I won trophies from warriors who sought my death, and I gained a great deal of my hoard from fair challenges against other dragons.” 78
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“Do humans always try to kill you?”
“No. In fact, most humans stay well away from us as long as we stay well away from them. Occasionally some great ‘hero’ decides that he must slay the evil dragon and that is when you must decide whether it is worth it to fight them or simply find another place to make your lair.”
“You always fight, right?”
“Of course,” Tolmac snorted fire, “you didn’t think I would flee from a human did you?”
“No, I can’t imagine that you would.” Sondra thought that he might flee from a human female, or perhaps kill her for lying to him. Sondra looked again at the sword in her hands. “How did you acquire this sword?”
“Ah, you like that one, do you?” Tolmac approached her and regarded the sword fondly. “I did not kill the bearer of this weapon, but she did attempt to slay me.”
“She?”
“Of course! In some worlds, women fight alongside their men. This warrior woman served as a heroine to her people, a mighty general that led them to many victories against their enemies. However, she finally met an enemy even she could not defeat.”
“You?”
“Okay, she encountered two enemies she could not defeat. I refer to illness.
Her baby daughter contracted a virulent disease that slowly claimed the child’s life. The healers of her tribe told her that only dragon’s blood could save her offspring. So she grabbed her enchanted sword, gifted to her by the Mother goddess her people worshipped, and hunted down the only dragon for miles around.”
