The Princess's Dragon (14 page)

“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.”

“Of course, you always claim a large territory.”

“Indeed. She challenged me out of desperation. I never deliberately threatened her people and she knew this. When she confronted me in my lair, she preceded her attack by asking my forgiveness for slaying me. Obviously I was intrigued, since most warriors simply charge, they don’t plead forgiveness first. So after I disarmed her I asked her why she wished me dead. That is when she told me about her child.”

“What did you do?”

Tolmac grew silent, aware that he’d just placed himself in the position of 80

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revealing an uncomfortable confession. He hoped she didn’t think less of him when he told her how the battle with the female warrior ended.

“Tolmac? You have to tell me now! You can’t just leave the story unfinished.”

“Very well, I shall tell you, but you must know that I acted out of character for me, understand. What I did in that situation was very unusual.”

“Tolmac!”

He sighed. “She told me about her child and the healer’s claim that she needed dragon blood. Of course I couldn’t give her dragon blood, it would make her babe immortal, nor could she take it from me by force or it would poison the child. When I explained that dragon blood wasn’t the answer she collapsed and wept to her Mother goddess, devastated that she could not save her child …” Tolmac paused, unwilling to continue.

“Quit stalling, Tolmac! Tell me what you did!”

“It’s not really important now, that was a long time ago …” Sondra grew so frustrated she snatched his wing and bit down, just hard enough to let him know she meant business and that he’d better continue.

Tolmac and Sondra both shuddered at the contact and the resultant desire neither expected. Sondra pulled quickly away when Tolmac’s eyes blazed.

“Finish the story! Please!” She scooted away meekly, unnerved by his reaction and her own.

Tolmac shook himself, the brilliant crimson glow fading from his eyes.

“All right, if you insist. Her pleas shook me so badly that I felt myself …

hmm … uh … um … uh … I … uh … shed a couple of tears.” Tolmac paused, embarrassed beyond measure at the confession. Dragons didn’t weep unless something truly monumental moved them, which explained why dragon’s tears proved so rare and highly prized. Well, that and the incredible healing capacity of tears shed by a magical creature as powerful as a dragon.

“Ohh, that is soo …” Sondra nearly melted into a puddle of mush on the cavern floor. Whatever part of her heart remained free of her growing love for Tolmac caved in and she fell hard. She couldn’t believe he didn’t want to admit he’d wept at the thought of a dying child and a grieving mother.

“I know it was weak on my part. I was young and inexperienced with humans then. I didn’t know how to deal with their messy emotions. So anyway, I gave the woman the tears and told her that they would cure her baby, and she raced away. She returned later and trespassed in my lair again. Apparently,

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the child not only survived but also thrived, stronger then ever before and immune to any sickness. She wanted to thank me, so she gave me her sword.

She claimed it was the greatest treasure she owned. It wasn’t much, of course, but I graciously accepted.”

That was a lie. The woman’s offer stunned Tolmac. The enchanted sword was a treasure beyond measure for the woman and her people; a divine weapon instilled with the essence of their Mother goddess. At first he refused to accept such a precious gift but the woman insisted and eventually, mindful of losing more of his dignity, he accepted the tribute. He spent many years watching over the woman and her people, determined that the loss of such a divine weapon would not find them vulnerable to their enemies. Eventually those enemies grew tired of fending off a dragon and left the people alone, and from that moment on, the people carried a black dragon as their standard.

“Tolmac … I lo—um, I really like this weapon. It feels so soothing for an instrument of death.” Sondra struggled to rally after Tolmac crashed through her defenses and laid claim to her heart.

“That weapon was an instrument of life to the people it served. It saved them and their families from slaughter at the hands of ruthless human raiders.

There are many different viewpoints, little one.” Tolmac turned away from Sondra and returned to his perusal of his hoard. “Ahem, anyway, the weapon suits your spirit more than my own. A feminine deity blessed it. I suppose it is as good a treasure as any to begin your hoard.”

“Tolmac, you’re not suggesting I keep this weapon, are you? It’s one of your special treasures.”

“Yes, well, I have many treasures. Now you have at least one, it’s a good start.”

“But…”

“Don’t argue, little one, I’ve made up my mind.” Tolmac abandoned his hoard and moved to the tunnel. “I am going to hunt some food, I will return later.” He turned to regard Sondra. “Don’t leave the safety of the lair, little one.

There are many dangers out there that you are not yet ready to face.” He left the cavern.

Sondra used his absence to face the stunning revelation she’d just had. She loved Tolmac, a dragon, and she was a human princess. They had no future together if Tolmac ever discovered the truth. She could abandon her plans to find the wizard and beg him to transform her back into a human. The thought 82

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of living forever, as a dragon, wasn’t as repellent as she at first imagined. She’d figured she would learn enough to survive on her own and then find the wizard and she would be back to a princess again, resuming her old life as though nothing had ever changed.

Now she knew better. Even if she could disregard her feelings for Tolmac, which she couldn’t, she realized she enjoyed being a dragon. She felt comfortable in her scales, content with her form and figure, pleased with her power and abilities. Suddenly returning to human form seemed like a step backward.

She’d never been truly comfortable in her life as a princess, always restricted and constantly judged on petty details, letting down her family and her people at every turn. As a dragon she felt free: free to travel wherever she wished, free to make mistakes, though some proved deadlier than others. For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to answer to anyone nor did she have a responsibility to anyone.

Yes, she could definitely see living out the remainder of her life as a dragon with Tolmac by her side. But Tolmac said dragons didn’t normally live together, unless they belonged to that horrible Circle group. Still, she believed she could find a way to remain with him. After all, he agreed to teach her everything she needed to learn to survive. She would simply have to take a long time learning it, like, say, the rest of her life. She would miss her family but she knew she would miss Tolmac more.

Then a horrible thought occurred to her. What if the wizard’s spell only lasted temporarily? She recalled that he intended for the transformation to

“make her see,” whatever that meant. What happened once she ”saw”? Would she shift back into human form? Suddenly she had to know whether the spell was permanent or not. She couldn’t risk planning her life around being a dragon if someday she’d simply change back into a princess! She needed to find the wizard immediately. She couldn’t afford to take the chance that she would shift back tonight or tomorrow or the next cycle. She needed to know for certain that her secret remained safe. And if he’d made the spell temporary, she would beg the wizard to make it permanent. She would give him anything.

She glanced over at the sword she still grasped in one claw, surprised to find that it fit so nicely there despite her size, almost as if it adjusted itself to her.

No, she wouldn’t give the wizard anything. She would always keep the sword, no matter what transpired.

The time before Tolmac would return slipped rapidly away. She suspected

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that he hunted for them both and she needed to be back in the lair before he returned with their food. She found the sheath for the sword and discovered that it too, adjusted to her size, encircling her reptilian waist with ease. She sheathed the weapon, missing its comforting weight in her claw, and quickly raced for the exit.

Sondra made it outside in record time and she didn’t spot any sign of Tolmac. She leapt into the air and winged her way south aiming for the Woods, just outside Ariva. Determined not to cause the humans any more fright, she summoned up a storm just as Tolmac taught her and pulled the clouds around her, hiding within the concealment of the stormfront. Anxiety pushed her on, faster than any storm that ever moved over the valley. She sped, using her wings to propel herself forward. In her mind she had enough time before Tolmac would return to the lair and discover her missing. She moved so quickly and desperately that she didn’t pay attention to the passing ground below her; so driven with finding an answer to her burning question, she overshot the Woods and Ariva and headed further south, moving over Passton and Ulrick Pass.

Before she realized it, Sondra glided in her stormfront over the Kingdom of Halidor. She finally slowed and attempted to locate her position but found that without the sheltering mountain ranges with its dominant central mountain as a landmark, she was completely lost and disoriented. Once again, she’d acted in haste and made a stupid mistake. She forgot that dragon flight moved very swiftly, and an adult dragon really pushing forward covered a considerable distance in a short time, just as she had. She started devising an explanation for Tolmac because she realized that she would never find her way back in time and hoped she could remain aloft long enough to find her way back by sundeath. Already her wings grew tired. Unwilling to dismiss her concealing clouds, Sondra held them close around her as she turned back the way she’d come and started making her way back to Thunder Mountain.

Hours passed and still the familiar mountain ranges failed to appear.

Suddenly Sondra realized that she no longer flew over Halidor but actually was continuing farther south and to the west rather than north. Spread below her lie the distant and mysterious kingdom of Fomoral. From books and maps, Sondra knew that the Dragon Cliffs formed the southernmost border of that kingdom.

Suddenly the name of those cliffs took on an entirely new meaning, and Sondra realized that she needed to move as far away from them and the caves 84

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she now knew housed the sadistic, draconic Circle. She needed to leave the cloud cover long enough to get her bearings. She hoped that the people of Fomoral expected dragons and wouldn’t panic if they caught sight of her. More importantly she hoped she didn’t alert any of the dragons from the cave city to her presence.

Of course, as she exited her concealment she realized her worst fears. She plunged out of the clouds and nearly collided with another dragon, an enforcer sent to investigate the curious stormfront moving at unnatural speed toward the compound. The other dragon blinked in surprise when Sondra pulled herself up in front of it. A harsh feminine voice ripped into her mind and Sondra slammed down her shields as Tolmac instructed and trained her to do, before the other dragon could sneak a peek at her thoughts.

“Who are you, from where do you hail? You are not of the Kin.” The other dragon, a female much larger than Sondra, though still considerably smaller then Tolmac, challenged her, the tone of her thoughts belligerent and confrontational.

“I am nobody, really. I just lost my way. I didn’t mean to trespass. I will leave immediately.” Sondra started flapping her wings, desperate to lift herself away from the other female. The brownish-tan dragon possessed a sickly aura that reminded Sondra of illness and disease. It swirled in a brown, murky color, but ragged holes of darkness and globs of gray, slimy smoke moved through it. Sondra didn’t need Tolmac to explain to her that this female was not a nice dragon.