Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion (21 page)

“So these two won’t start breathing fire and killing everyone?”

I
laughed a little. “No, they won’t. In fact, they can’t breathe fire.”

“
No breath weapon, well that’s a start.” Maya exhaled, becoming a little more relaxed, and Winya reverted back to her bracelet identity.

“
No, I said they don’t breathe fire.”

I pulled her down next to me so she was closer to the dragons
. I took her right hand and looked her in the eyes.

“
Do you trust me?”

She nodded,
“I followed you into a magical pool of water over my head when I can’t swim, didn’t I?” I moved her hand so it rested on the crest of the young dragon in front of her. For its part, the young drake remained motionless. Its eyes were like multifaceted dark silver ornaments that radiated friendly peaceful intent.

“
It’s cold.”

“
I would hope so.”

“
So tell me about them then.” She was stroking the head of her dragon and even scratching under its chin, which caused it to sigh happily and lean into her attentions.

“
Well, these are apparently young silver dragons. They are also called shield dragons from time to time because of the shape of their crest. They grow to be the largest type of metal dragon, getting easily three times larger than they are now, their scales becoming so thick that they are practically indestructible. Silvers like to shape themselves into humans and often live among common folk, even making lifelong friends and taking human or elf lovers.”

“
Until they get hungry and eat all the farm animals!”

“
Silvers’ diets are the same as ours. They are fine with three normal-sized meals a day like your ordinary person. Thankfully, they don’t have any odd tendencies like the others do.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
The others, like copper, brass and bronze dragons, all have odd traits like coppers are tricksters and brass never shut up.”

“
What about gold?”

“
They are too good-willed to do things like that. In fact, that’s why there is only one left. They like to give themselves quests to face the forces of evil…often alone and against great odds.”

“
So what can silvers do?”

“
They can sleep on clouds.”

“
Uh, how does that work?”

“
I don’t know, you would have to ask one.”

“
Like I’m going to be able to find a dragon that will tell me,” she snorted.

Wow, she had
already forgotten what she was petting with her hands. I nodded to Maya and to the dragon in front of me, hoping that it would understand.

“
Then perhaps we could be of assistance, my lady?” The voice was not what I was expecting from a dragon. It was smooth and very feminine. If I didn’t know where it came from, I would have said a young noble girl was in the stables with us.

Maya froze
. “You can talk?”

“
We apologize if we startled you.” Both young dragons bowed their heads to us. “We also regret our late introduction, but we had to be sure that you two were the ones we seek. I am the silver dragon, Dawn. This is my sister, the silver dragon, Dusk.” Dawn sat in front of me and Dusk was still purring under Maya’s rubbings. “We are both extremely honored to meet you, Alex and Maya.”

I
nudged Maya out of her trance, and she recovered a little shamefaced. “Oh, um, thank you. Hey, I am truly sorry if I was rude at first.”

The dragons smiled, their lips appear to be more nimble than I thought
. “No, you two honor us with this chance. Alex’s mother saved our lives when we were still in our eggs.”

“
What happened?”

Dusk pulled away from Maya and took over the
tale. Her voice was almost the same as her sister’s, just a bit higher. “Our story is not a long one. When we awoke in our eggs, we were driven by the need to get out. Normally, with the aid of our egg tooth, it would have been easy, but over the many years that we were in that cave, sand and rock had fallen around us, covering our shells. Unable to escape, we screamed for help as our time was running out. But when we were about to give up, we felt the debris shift away from us and a voice said, ‘I have given you a chance, now you must fight for your right to live.’ With the rocks and sand gone, we were able to escape our shells to find the woman who aided us. She told us that to repay her, we must serve her son when the time came, and that you would grant our wish as payment once your destiny is fulfilled.”

I sighed and turned to Maya
, “Why does everyone else know more about us than we do?”

“
I don’t know, but its pissing me off,” she whispered.

The two dragons looked confused
. “You do not know of what we speak?”

“
No.” I shrugged.

“
Not a thing. Everyone just keeps calling me a queen,” Maya complained softly with a concerned look in my direction, and I could see a line of thought there that troubled her greatly.

“
That’s a shame. We were hoping you would be able to tell us. Now all of us are confused,” Dawn added.

“
Well, no point in moping about it here, dinner should be about ready. We need to get inside before Rosa eats everything.”

“
No kidding! A tip for you two, if Rosa is around, eat fast,” Maya advised.

“
We will do as you say, my Lady.”

We started for the door with the two dragons following us
. It occurred to me that having them in their true form and in the house would probably be a bad idea.

“
Please, can you two turn human for this. I don’t think my parents would like the house destroyed.”

They both
hissed laughingly. “We were hoping you would ask us that. In truth, we would love to practice our human forms.”

Watching
them change forms is kind of creepy. It’s just too unnatural, like a reversal of the wolf transformation, but now with obviously bare human skin and female skin, at that! Fortunately, shimmering dresses appeared shortly after to cover them. The two “girls” were now about our age, with brown wavy hair and tan skin. They had silver-colored eyes that matched their dresses exactly. Both had huge, if slightly confused smiles that didn’t quite look natural. They were still learning facial expression and human movement as well. They looked great, mind you, but they still had nothing on Maya.

“
You two are twins?”

“
Why, of course, we are from the same clutch.”

“
Well, let’s go, I’m starving.”

Maya fell in beside me
. “Eyes front, recruit. We’ll have no ‘twins’ fantasies on my watch,” she grinned, and poked me in the ribs.

The four of us entered
the house and made our way to the new dining room where everyone else was waiting. As soon as we entered the room, I knew that Rosa and Nia had succeeded in lightening the mood for my parents. Dad and Rosa were at the table drinking the wine she brought. And Mother was in the kitchen with Nia cooking up a storm and seemed to be having a great time with her, but even so, she was the first one to notice us enter.

“
Alex, your friend Nia is amazing in the kitchen. She has really been a great help.”

Nia
blushed and hid behind a pot in embarrassment. “Mr. Alex was the one who taught me everything I know.”

“
Who are your friends?”

I moved Dawn and Dusk up front
. From their expressions, I guessed that they aren’t used to being in public or being around people at all. “Everyone, I would like to introduce Dawn and Dusk. My birth mother sent them to us.”

Everyone
introduced themselves and shook their hands, and my mother gave them a huge hug, which they seemed to enjoy. Rosa gave me a knowing look to tell me that she knew what they were, and I could sense that she approved. Mom got them seated at the long table and with help from Nia, set out plates and bowls for everyone.

“
I really hope you like what we are making for dinner tonight, Maya. It’s my best dark elf dish that I learned a long time ago.”

Maya
’s smile lit up the room. “Really? It’s been so long since I have had anything from my homeland. Not that your food is anything but excellent, Alex.”

“
Don’t worry, I know what you mean.”

“
Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore. I will be sending some of my cookbooks home with you so Alex can make you any recipe you would like.”

She
hugged my arm. “Any recipe? Now that does sound really good to me.”

Mom
laughed, “Yes, even those recipes!”

I looked at the now blushing Maya
. “Huh?” Damn, another tantalizing insight lost. I really need to be paying better attention!

“
Oh, nothing you need to worry about right now. I’m starving, so let’s eat.”

Maya
wrapped her arms around Dawn and Dusk, much to their surprise. “Come on, you two, you can sit by me. I’m sure you’re both hungry, and if Mrs. Martin’s the one who taught Alex how to cook, then this is going to be extra special.”

“
Maya, please just call me Mom, I already know you and Alex were meant for each other.”

Awkward
timing on that one, Mom! But thankfully, Maya just nodded and brushed it off, returning to helping the young dragons to their seats. I had Mom find her seat next to Dad so she could visit with everyone, then went into the kitchen to help Nia finish up.

“
So how is everything going in here?”

Nia was bus
y stirring a large pot of some form of soup that smelled familiar from my childhood. She was also working on bread and a roast that smelled terrific. She turned to me and let out a sigh of relief.

“
I’m sorry, Alex, but I’ve been stirring this pot for over an hour and my wings are killing me. But as for how dinner is going, everything should be done in a few minutes.”

I patted my
shoulder. “Take a break, Nia; I’ll take over for you.”

She slowly flew over and
crash-landed noisily on my shoulder. “Thank you so much, my wings were starting to cramp up.”

“
You know our rule about you saying so when your wings are tired.” I took over stirring the soup.

“
I know, but your mother was so nice to me and I wanted her to be happy. I also didn’t know if I would fit on her shoulder like I do with you.”

“
Why wouldn’t you?”

“
Master, you are huge compared to your mom; there’s a lot of room up here. Oh, and it’s time to take the dessert out of the oven.”

I grabbed some padded mitts and
removed the dessert that turned out to be my mom’s famous blackberry cobbler; this night keeps getting better and better. Setting that out to cool, I returned to the soup. “So what did my mom say this soup was?”

“
She said it was a root soup, something that the dark elves seem to love. It’s made from a root that tastes like a potato but with a strong butter flavor. Then there are bits of beef and bacon mixed in, as well, but the bacon was not part of the original recipe. We just had it on hand and thought it would be good. I think it will taste wonderful, or it’s just that I’m hungry and she hasn’t let me lick out anything.” I laughed.

“
But really, Master, she hasn’t let me lick ANYTHING! I’m starving!”

“
Well, if your wings are up to it, I believe everything is ready to serve.”

She sprang into action
. “You bet! Sooner it’s on the table, the sooner I get to eat it!”

The two of us carried the food to the table
. I had the soup and other heavy stuff, and Nia darted in and out of the kitchen delivering sides and the toppings. Everyone was in high spirits, especially for the mood we were all in a few hours ago. The twins seemed uneasy for some reason, though, as I was setting the roast down.

“
Something wrong, you two? Is Maya not playing nice?”

They both
shook their heads in embarrassment. “No, nothing like that. Everyone is being very polite to us. It’s just that we don’t feel right about you having to serve us, when we were sent to serve you.”

“
Don’t worry about that, just enjoy the food.”

Nia
buzzed between the two of them. “It’s just the way he is. He has never been one to have others do things for him; in fact, he goes out of his way to make our lives better. You couldn’t ask for a better master. Really, I know!”

Then she flew off to her
spot on the table and started wolfing down on a chunk of bread that was cut for her. The twins seemed to believe what the pixie had said and finally joined in on conversation with Maya and Mom. Dad and Rosa were still chatting away and drinking to their hearts’ content. Somehow, I had the feeling that I would have to carry Rosa home tonight. Good thing I am a lot stronger now.