The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) (7 page)

             
Could it be my dragon?
Kade considered, fearing to hope too much.  He paused for a moment, liking the thought of having a dragon once again.  He liked it more and more, considering no one else had a dragon.  Well, no one that he had ever heard of that was alive.  There were stories of Ancient Chosen having dragons, but that had been millennia ago.  Any moment his dragon was going to burst out of the woods, proving to his master that everything he had been saying was true.

             
His hopes were rising until his analytical mind took over, forcing thoughts into his head that were not as promising. 
What if it is another animal?  What if it’s another grimalkin?
  He fought the panic as he watched the woods intently. 
It has to be the dragon
, Kade thought as the shaking of the ground increased.  The thought of a cat-like creature charging at them had him on edge.  He relaxed just a little but only a little as the protective barrier shimmered.

             
Kade noticed his master watching him, reading all his facial expressions.  He wondered what his master saw and what conclusion he drew.  But, the look of worry on Zayle’s face did not sit well with him.  Kade was certain his master was keeping something from him.  He was considering asking what was wrong, but the sound in the forest was getting louder, and closer.  When it seemed as if it was almost upon them, there was a deafening roar that made both men’s hearts jump.  The sense of shear power in that sound made Kade swallow hard.  The dragon burst into the opening and slammed into the barrier.  It bounced off so violently that Kade thought it might have broken its neck.  After a few moments, it quickly regained its feet, and its eyes locked onto Kade.  The dragon reoriented and pushed against the barrier, trying to get to the man it had known only a few short hours, but was attached to, nonetheless.  The stories he had heard about the Chosen having dragons briefly flashed through his mind, and then he was focused on this one.

             
Kade felt as if his heart might explode with joy as he raced toward his dragon and threw his arms as far around its neck as he could.  He never felt a more sweet sensation on his face than the supple, leathery feeling of his dragon’s scales.  Zayle looked on in horror, expecting this beast to snap up his apprentice with those dangerous teeth.

             
“I thought you had left,” Kade said in a rush.  “I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to see you,” he said, not wanting to take his hands off the dragon, as if doing so might cause it to flee and never come back.

             
Kade turned with pride and overflowing joy to introduce his new dragon but froze with the words stuck in his throat.  The look of horror and dismay on Zayle’s face mixed with fear on the edge of panic caused Kade’s pulse to quicken.  Overwhelming confusion filled him as he looked upon his master, whose eyes appeared to be coming out of his head.  This was very much not in Zayle’s behavior, and it had Kade scared to the very core of his being.

             
“Master, what is it?  What is wrong?” Kade pleaded.

             
“This can’t be!” Zayle said as he quickly spun through the moves that would bring the Blue Flame of the Divine to life.  The Master Chosen’s eyes turned pitch black, as if made of marble.  Kade winced at the image.  This was twice in one day and it was more eerie than Kade cared for.  The fire danced in Zayle’s bare hands.  He moved his head back and forth, watching…something.  He quickly snapped his hands shut and the flame drifted away.  “Is the part about the grimalkin also true?  Is it really out there?” Zayle said, regaining his composure.

             
“Yes,” Kade said, an uneasy feeling spreading through his body.

             
“How?” Zayle asked himself, as his mind worked furiously.  He spun on Kade, and with eyes more intense than the apprentice had ever seen, demanded, “Quickly, take me to it!  Hurry!  I must see this!”

             
“I am not sure if I can.  I was deep in thought as I was walking and not really paying attention where I was going,” Kade said, hesitantly.

             
“I must see this creature,” Zayle said with so much force that Kade flinched and took a step back.

             
“I will do what I can,” Kade replied as an idea came to him.  He turned to the dragon.  “Can you take me to the grimalkin?” Kade asked.  The dragon looked at him in confusion.  Chastising himself for being a fool for thinking the dragon would understand, he got down on all fours and pretended to take a swipe at the dragon where it was previously injured.  He was at a complete loss as to how to communicate what he needed, but he had no other ideas so he repeated the action.  The dragon gave a huff and took a step backward. 

             
“So, you know I am talking about the grimalkin.  Well, that is good.  Now, how to get you to take me to it?” he asked to himself as much as the dragon.  It was tilting its head back and forth, watching Kade closely.  “Where?” Kade asked as he stood and walked in the general direction he knew it had to be.  “Where?” he asked again, as he indicated the woods with a sweep of his arm while looking at the dragon.  Kade felt something brush his mind, and then it was gone.

             
“OK, well I will do what I can, Master, but I only recall the general direction,” Kade said, giving up on communicating with the dragon.  He turned and started down the path.  Suddenly, the dragon gave a grunt and lumbered by.  Both men watched it with curiosity as it stopped and turned to look at them.  Kade got the feather-light touch on his mind again and looked deep into the dragon’s eyes.  He could almost swear he was connecting with it in some way, but that was crazy thinking.  It had to be.

             
“Master?” Kade asked, surprised at the dragon’s action?

             
“I say we follow.  I must see, and if this is the only way, then we try.”

             
Kade and Zayle worked their way through the heavy brush, trying to stay with the dragon, but it did not want to stay on the path, so it was not easy going.  It only made sense.  The dragon had to be following the scent of the grimalkin, leading them directly to it.

             
The dragon had to stop several times to wait for the two men.  After having to call the dragon back constantly, it did a curious thing; it came over next to the two men and knelt down.  Kade and Zayle looked at each other in amazement.

             
“Master, do you suppose he…wants us to ride?” Kade asked in disbelief.

             
“It would appear that way,” Zayle said as he narrowed his eyes, studying the fearsome creature.  “There is only one way to find out, and that is to try mounting,” he said in awe.

Kade had never seen his master in awe of anything.  As a matter of fact, he could not recall ever seeing his master show much emotion of any kind, aside from anger and frustration.  Kade cleared his head and focused on the task at hand.

              “Here goes,” Kade said as put his foot on the dragon’s leg.  He reached up, grabbed ahold of the ridges on the dragon’s neck and struggled to pull himself onto its back.

             
Now, it was Zayle’s turn.  He approached the dragon cautiously from the left side.  As he closed the distance, the dragon swung its head around to follow his movements.  Zayle hesitated, noticing those sharp teeth.  The dragon’s lips were twitching slightly.

             
“Are you sure this dragon of yours will not try to make a meal out of me?  I don’t like the look in its eyes,” Zayle said as he matched the dragon stare for stare.

And, to make the point even more so, the dragon gave out a low rumble, as more of its razor-sharp teeth showed.  Clearly, it was not accepting of all people.  It was then Kade realized Zayle was drawing on the Divine.

              “Master, I think it senses your use of the power and does not like it.”

             
“And I am to completely put my life in its hands?” Zayle asked, incredulously.

             
“Master, would I be sitting on its back if it planned on killing us?”

             
“Apprentice,” Zayle said, “you had better be right.”  And with that, Zayle let the Divine Power melt away.

             
“Dragon, it’s okay,” Kade said as he stroked its neck.  “He is not going to hurt you,” he said in a soothing tone. 

The dragon craned its neck just a little more to look at Kade.  After a moment, it seemed to accept his urgings and allowed the Master Chosen to approach.  Zayle held his breath as he reached up to grab Kade by the forearm and smoothly swung up to land behind his apprentice.  The dragon tensed at the new touch, but to their relief, did nothing more.

              “Your new pet is very solid,” Zayle said.  He looked over at the wings, readying himself for flight.  It took a moment for Kade to realize what his master was expecting.  He chuckled but only briefly as his master glared at him hard enough to freeze him solid.  Even if Kade was turned away, he could have felt that glare right through the back of his head.

             
“He cannot fly, Master.  He was injured in the fight and needs time to heal,” Kade said humbly.  Zayle relaxed slightly, but only slightly. 

“Well, it will still be much faster than walking, so let’s get your new pet moving,” Zayle said as he looked the creature over in amazement.

              The dragon was regarding the pair as they talked.  It appeared to be very curious as to what was going on.  Kade and Zayle were both surprised to see it holding perfectly still as it analyzed them.  They looked at each other and then shrugged.  Zayle, again, became impatient but sat still, waiting.

             
“Okay, dragon, let’s get moving,” Kade said as he pointed the way they had been going. “Let’s go find that grimalkin.”

             
The dragon let out an ear shattering roar that shook both men to the bone and left their teeth rattling.  With that, it leapt with amazing power that almost unseated them both.  After a few uncomfortable moments of getting situated, the dragon settled into a comfortable lope.  But, even at this, it was not easy to stay seated.

             
“Why does he do that?” Kade asked, expecting his master to always have the answers.

             
“I believe they do it to warn any predator to stay out of the way, or it could be some kind of dominance or territorial issue,” Zayle said as he rubbed his ears.

             
“Well, if I heard a sound like that, I would definitely stay out of his territory.”

             
After running for almost fifteen minutes, the dragon came to a stop just fifteen feet from the charred remains of the grimalkin, or what left of it.  There were considerably more animals in the area now and they were all of the predatory variety.

             
The dragon flexed its shoulders while sticking its neck out and glared at the animals in the clearing.  Several moved but many more continued to feast on the cooked meat.  The dragon let out a deadly hiss, causing a few more to scamper out of harm’s way.  The dragon, feeling its warning was not being taken serious enough, stood up and opened its wings to their full size.  Kade was amazed with the splendor of this magnificent beast as he slid down to the ground.  Zayle also quickly slid down, sensing it was going to attack at any moment.

             
The dragon obviously took offence that not every living creature had run for its life and launched into the remaining animals with another one of those ear-splitting roars.  It proceeded to rend everything it could get its jaws and claws into.  It was not a pretty sight at all.  It made Kade slightly queasy to think back on what would have happened to him had the dragon not been so badly injured when he first blindly stumbled onto it.  Ironically, it occurred to him that he probably owed his life to the grimalkin.

             
Kade shook his head and watched his dragon do what it did best; hunt, tear flesh and feed.  He glanced at Zayle and saw his master deep in thought.  The feeling that something serious going through the Chosen’s mind returned, and the more Kade thought about it, the more he knew he needed to know what it was. 

Later,
he told himself, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep saying later.

             
The dragon charged around the carcass in search of something on the other side to fight.  Kade looked around the head of the cat-like monster and saw a grizzly bear hit the ground for the last time.  The dragon looked up, sensing something coming and took a step toward Kade, hissing as it got ready to pounce for its next attack.  It stumbled slightly as it caught itself, just barely recognizing Kade before it leapt.  It lowered its head and took a slow, shuffling step backward as its head swayed from side to side.  It was a pitiful sight.

The half leap toward him was enough to put a lump the size of a grapefruit in his throat and cause his heart to pump several times very hard.  Kade quickly approached the dragon, giving it a pat on the shoulder, letting it know everything was ok.  He felt a strong, growing admiration for this dragon that could be so fierce, and yet, was so gentle with him.