by Avril Sabine
“I don’t need your sympathy. And don’t come looking to me for any when you find here is no better than what you had.” With a last wild look, Behira spun around and stormed out of the house.
Fen patted Edana’s shoulder his hand rested on. “You won’t need to go looking for sympathy from that woman, Eddie. We’ll look out for you.”
“What a dreadful name,” Hanun exclaimed. “Surely you don’t call her Eddie?”
Edana laughed at the shocked expression on Hanun’s face. “I’m afraid he does.”
They returned to the eggs to find Mouse pacing back and forth. “What took you so long?” Mouse demanded as soon as they entered.
Fen glanced at the dragon. Seeing she was fine, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mouse pointed towards Carmine. “She’s evil. She spat her food at me. She knocked on the other eggs. She even tried to push one of the eggs onto the floor.”
“Oh dear,” Edana said. “What are we going to do with her?”
“Bring her,” River told Fen and Edana.
“What have we got to wrap her in?” Fen asked Mouse.
“A hessian bag with two rocks in it?” Mouse asked hopefully.
“Just the bag,” Fen said.
Mouse glared at Carmine. “I hope you’re not expecting me to put her in the bag. She nearly drew blood before.”
Fen suppressed a grin. “I’ll do it.”
As soon as Mouse brought the hessian bag, Fen tried to slip it over Carmine. She hissed and scratched and made every effort to attack him. After a great deal of struggling and some help from Edana, Fen managed to get Carmine in the bag.
“I can’t imagine what the problem is,” Hanun said. “I’ve never heard of tame dragons carrying on like this. Do you think it has something to do with the fact their father’s a wild grey?”
“I don’t know what the problem is,” Fen said. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens when the other three hatch.”
“What will we do if they’re all wild?” Edana asked.
Fen grinned at her. “Looks like you won’t be a wealthy woman after all.”
Edana hit Fen on the arm. “Grow up.”
“Children. Careful of that dragon,” Hanun warned.
“I’ll take her to River. See if he can sort her out,” Fen said.
“I’ll stay here with Mouse. I’ll help him keep an eye on these other eggs. They usually all hatch within twenty-four hours of each other,” Hanun said.
“I’ll go with Fen.” Edana followed him to the door. “We shouldn’t be too long. I want to see them hatch too.”
As soon as Edana and Fen had left Carmine with River, they returned to wait for the eggs to hatch. Hanun had dinner delivered and it wasn’t until the early hours of the next morning the last three eggs hatched. They were all born grey.
“I wonder why Carmine was different,” Edana said.
“I don’t know, but I think we should wait to have the officials register the births,” Fen said.
“They only give us two days to notify them,” Hanun warned.
“I know. We’ll wait the full two days. Then we can say Carmine changed colour not long before they arrived. That’s possible,” Fen said.
Hanun nodded slowly. “That might be best. Although I don’t know how they’re going to get close enough to her to take blood for the registration. It’ll have to be done. It’s the law. I just don’t know how they’ll manage it.”
Fen grinned. “At least it’ll be interesting to see them try.”
Hanun slowly shook his head. “I worry over the things that amuse you, boy.”
Carmine was still violent two days later when it was time to register her and her siblings. The other three dragons had changed colour and there was a blue female called Brook, a green male called Forest and a female the same colour as her mother called Lace. River had told them the names given them by their mother. Hanun didn’t mind what the dragons were called and Fen and Edana didn’t tell him where the names came from.
When it was time for the officials to take blood from Carmine, River held her down with one paw while the officials hovered nervously at the door of his pen.
“This isn’t the way it’s normally done,” the first official, Algis, said.
“The dragon should be with its egg mates. That’s the way it’s always done,” Norwell, the second official, said.
Fen looked over at River and he let his daughter go. The moment the pressure was off, she hissed and snapped and threw herself at the officials. Seconds before she reached them, as they tried to quickly exit the pen, River grabbed her and held her down again.
“Can we get this over and done with? I’m sure River would like to stop holding her at some stage today,” Fen said.
“She’s wild. You’ll have to release her,” Algis said.
“She’s the offspring of a wild dragon,” Fen said. “What did you expect?”
“Well,” Norwell looked over at Algis as if he might have the answer.
“I’ve read every ruling regarding hatchlings and there’s nothing that says dragons born in captivity must be returned to the wild if they act like a wild dragon,” Fen said.
“Impossible. There must be something,” Algis said.
Norwell shook his head. “Not that I can think of.”
“There must be,” Algis said.
“There’s nothing,” Hanun said. “Now take her blood so she can be registered.”
“We’ll be looking into this further,” Algis warned.
“That’s fine,” Hanun said. “You’ll find nothing. My lawyers have also scoured the rulebooks and laws regarding this issue and found not one ruling about it. Now take her blood and be done with it.”
Algis took a sharp instrument and with a quick jab in a thin skinned area waited for a few drops of blood to well up. As soon as enough appeared, Algis touched a piece of parchment to the blood and then moved away hurriedly.
“Name?” Algis readied his quill and ink.
“Carmine,” Hanun said.
“Out of,” Algis asked.
“River and Pearl of Carson Dragon Stables,” Hanun said.
“Registered to.” Algis kept his eyes on the parchment.
“Carson Dragon Stables,” Hanun answered.
“Will the owners read and sign the details.” Algis handed the parchment over to Hanun.
As they had done with the other three dragons, Hanun and Fen read the information and signed it. The parchment went into the leather case that would be used to transport it to the records building where it would be bound into a leather book of all the dragons born that month as well as cross-referenced in several other books.
“Good day to you,” Algis said frostily. Norwell nodded.
The moment they were all out of the pen, River licked his daughter’s blood spot to heal it and let her go.
“What are we going to do with her?” Hanun asked wearily.
“I don’t know.” Fen sighed heavily. “She’s been different from the start. Who knows what to expect from her?”
“We might have to end up setting her free. We can’t force her to stay here if her whole life will be one of imprisonment,” Edana said.
“We’re going to have to get her a separate pen from River. It makes it too difficult when we need to train him,” Hanun said.
“We’ll put a door between the pen next to River’s and then he can send her into her own room when we need to come in,” Fen said.
“How do you expect him to be able to do that?” Hanun asked.
“I can do it,” River told Fen and Edana.
“He’ll manage,” Fen said with a smile.
Chapter Thirty
The next Halfday, the first person Fen ran into after he’d settled River at the competition grounds was Adalric. He stood inside the owners’ area and bragged to one of his friends about the speed of his dragon, Twilight. He stopped in mid sentence when he saw Fen.
“You have a nerve showing up h
ere,” Adalric said.
At that same moment, Hanun and Edana joined Fen and Adalric’s eyes narrowed as he glared at them.
“All of you have a nerve,” Adalric growled.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t show up,” Fen said.
“You steal my daughter, you destroy my line and then you show up here where you knew I’d be,” Adalric argued.
Fen smiled mildly. “You destroyed your own line. And I showed up here because River plans to take another gold.”
“Gold. Not a chance. He’s racing against my Twilight. She’s never been beaten. And not only that, one of the out of town dragons, Black Star, is in the same race.”
“What do you think, River?” Fen sent his thoughts towards where he knew River was stabled.
“I have seen them both. They do not care where they come in the race. There is no reason for them to win. They race because it is expected of them. I will take gold for you, Fen,” River assured him.
“River will take gold,” Fen said firmly.
“A wager. We must have a wager,” one of Adalric’s friends said.
“Something worth wagering over,” another said.
Bastian came to stand with them. “A wager. How interesting.”
Adalric gave a curt nod in greeting. “Bastian.”
“Adalric.” Bastian gave the same curt nod back.
“Are we to have a wager? How about the one who is first is paid by the ones who come after him,” one of the bystanders suggested.
“No. Money takes the fun out of it.” Bastian shook his head. “I won’t be in any wager that’s so uninteresting.”
“Afraid you’ll lose?” Adalric asked.
“Certainly not. Firefly was moved into Twilight’s race. My usual dragon for the race is mating,” Bastian said.
“Ah, Firefly, she’s only lost once, hasn’t she?” Hanun glanced towards Adalric.
“To one of my dragons I believe,” Adalric said smugly.
“Not to Twilight though,” Bastian quickly replied.
“Only because she’s never raced against her,” Adalric said.
“It doesn’t matter, gentlemen,” Hanun interrupted. “Our River will take the gold so you’re wasting your time. Lay a wager with us if you will, but be prepared to pay at the end.”
“Pay! It’ll be you doing the paying,” Adalric hissed.
“What sort of wager?” Bastian asked.
Hanun hummed as he tapped his lip thoughtfully. “What about the two who lose out of us three must give the winner a recently hatched female dragon?”
“Unheard of,” exclaimed one of the bystanders.
“Completely mad,” another cried out.
“Unless you’re both worried you’ll lose.” Hanun looked first at Adalric and then at Bastian.
Edana elbowed Fen, glaring at him when he turned to look at her. “Do something,” she hissed.
“I guess you’re right, Hanun. They have no faith in their dragons at all,” Fen said.
“That wasn’t what I meant.” Edana kicked Fen’s shin to make him stop.
“Agreed,” Adalric held out his hand to Fen. He shook it and then turned to Bastian.
“Yes. Agreed.” Bastian shook first Adalric’s hand and then Fen’s.
“Someone fetch a bookmaker. We need to make this official. I don’t want anyone trying to get out of paying me my two young female dragons,” Adalric said.
“No. I certainly don’t want you trying to weasel out when it’s my Firefly who wins,” Bastian said.
A bookmaker soon arrived and he wrote down the wager in his book with relish. Within minutes he was taking bets with people over who’d be collecting the wager.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Fen said. “I’m going to find a good spot to view the race from.” He started to move away.
“Make sure you don’t go too far. I wouldn’t want to have to go looking for you to arrange delivery of my new dragon,” Adalric said.
Fen paused and turned to face Adalric across the crowd. “I’m partial to grey myself. I’ve done well with mine. So make it a female that hasn’t come into her colour yet.” He turned and strode back through the crowd before Adalric had a chance to reply.
“Are you mad?” Edana demanded in an angry whisper when Fen had found a place to view the arena from.
Fen grinned. “Probably.”
“And you’re just as bad,” Edana turned on Hanun.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Hanun said.
“You only have four baby dragons and you’re wagering one of them away,” Edana said.
“Three,” Hanun said. “Did you forget we gave one to you?”
“Two after today. And how many will be left by the end of the week? Or the end of the month? You can’t go throwing them away like that.” Edana glared at them both, hands on her hips.
“I’ve risked everything before and come out on top,” Fen reminded Edana.
“That was different,” Edana said.
Fen stared silently at Edana and willed her to understand. “Sometimes life’s a gamble. We can’t pass up this chance, Eddie. With two more female dragons we can increase our breeding stock dramatically. As it is we can’t keep any of our dragons for breeding because they’re all related. Do you think any of this lot are likely to sell us a dragon? Adalric will make certain they don’t.”
Edana sighed. “I hope River knows what’s at stake.”
“I do. I will win. No more fretting,” River told them both.
“I hope so,” Edana muttered.
“Enough quarrelling,” Hanun said. “The race is starting.”
Fen and Edana moved forward to stand with Hanun, their eyes glued to the door where the dragons would enter the arena. As the dragons entered, the announcer called out each of their names and stable.
Fen took that time to remind River of the course. Then the race began and River was fourth in the pack. The competition was tougher than usual. The dragons he competed against were accustomed to the longer and more difficult course. Fen sent picture after picture to show River where the other dragons were in comparison to him and he was able to weave amongst them as they glided through the spires. He gained third place and was close to second when they reached the last spire before the open straight to the first checkpoint. The dragons in the lead spread out. A dragon barrelled in from behind and shouldered River into the last spire. He hit with a thud and the officials ordered the dragon from the arena.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Pull up,” Fen thought frantically to River as the ground came closer. “Pull up and away.” Fen felt Edana’s hand reach out and clasp his. They both watched as River struggled to regain height.
“Foul!” Hanun bellowed beside them. “I bet it’s Adalric behind it. He couldn’t win a fair race even if he tried.”
“He’s gaining height,” Edana whispered. “Come on, River. You can do it.”
Fen held Edana’s hand tightly as he watched the other dragons come back from the checkpoint and pass the still floundering River.
“Get him far away from the spires,” Edana whispered. “There’ll be at least one other willing to try. It’s a classic Adalric/Bastian technique.”
“Scum,” Hanun called out.
“Come on, River,” Fen pleaded.
River worked his wings hard and pulled upwards. One wing didn’t appear to work as hard as the other and he seemed to almost fly on an angle.
“Don’t let them beat us, River. You promised me gold. Take it from them,” Fen urged.
Fen held his breath as River surged ahead to the checkpoint and turned back to the spires. With no other dragons in his way he was able to take the spires close. He pulled his wings tight against his body so he nearly brushed against them. As he gained on the second checkpoint he came closer to the rest of the dragons. Past the checkpoint he overtook several.
“That’s it,” Fen urged as he sent picture after picture to show where all the other dragons were located compa
red to River.
“He’s doing it.” Edana bounced on the spot, still clasping Fen’s hand tightly.
River reached fourth place as they came close to the last spire before the third checkpoint. Fen saw the dragons spread out again and one of the dragons come in from behind.
“Not again,” Edana shrieked.
“Get away from him, River,” Hanun bellowed as he leaned forward and clenched his fists.
“Drop down, to the right,” Fen ordered River. The dragon tried to swerve and take him again. They were past the spires and headed for the checkpoint. “Watch him on the way back,” Fen warned River.
River tailed Twilight, staying as close to her as possible.
“What are you doing?” Fen demanded of River.
River ignored him and flew on as they headed for the spires again. Fen sent him images of where the other dragons were. He was Twilight’s shadow. She tried to move away as they reached the first spire. The other dragon came in fast. River dropped below Twilight at the last second. The dragon barrelled into Twilight instead and she hit the spire and plummeted to the ground.
The rest of the dragons flew on and the official ordered the other dragon out of the arena.
“Yes!” Hanun’s fist punched the sky.
River was now in third place. Twilight limped off the field, her trainer by her side. Black Star was in the lead with Firefly close behind him. River was close on their tails, but he quickly gained on them. Firefly took the lead by a head. River was level with Black Star. They came close to the last spire before the last checkpoint.
“Keep watch,” Fen warned River.
The dragons stayed in close formation. Then they were on the last straight. Edana’s fingernails dug into Fen’s hand. He sent picture after picture. All three dragons were neck and neck, coming in for the last checkpoint. The crowd fell completely silent as if they all held their breath. Hanun clung to the rail between the owner’s area and the arena and leaned forward as if he could help River go faster.
“Go River,” Edana whispered.
River put on a last burst of speed and his large wings pushed him through the air. He tucked them close to his body as he shot through the small gap between the two lead dragons. The crowd roared in excitement as the three dragons flew past the final checkpoint, River barely in the lead.
