Page 44 of Red Dragon
I am puny, but I have potential.
That might have been an arrogant thing to say, but dragons seemed to like confidence. Maybe even bravado.
Thatmustbe true,Wreylith said.The krendala would not respond to you if you did not.
Syla looked down at the figurine. When she’d first contacted Wreylith through it, she’d wondered why her father had never said anything about its powers, but was it possible it hadn’t done anything in his hands?
She shied away from the thought. It was hard to believe that he, a supremely capable leader who’d been an excellent fighter and athlete in all kinds of endeavors, wouldn’t have had the potential to bestir the magic. Maybe Wreylith hadn’t been flying around the Garden Kingdom during his lifetime or he’d never happened to pick it up when she’d been nearby, so he hadn’t felt the warmth of it emanating power.
Learn if you have the potential that Queen Erasbella had,Wreylith said,and then I might deign to carry you again. As much as I would enjoy hunting on those islands, I do not know if I could ever bond with someone so…
Brave as to pull a venomous fang from the foot of a dragon?
Humph.
Would you consider giving me an opportunity to prove myself? As Queen Erasbella must once have to you?Syla vowed to search in the library for information on her great-great grandmother. She couldn’t believe she’d never heard family stories about her bonding with—or at least having a relationship of some kind with—a dragon.
In what way do you desire to prove yourself?
I must hunt down the components of a shielder so that my engineer aunt may rebuild our damaged one.
That concerns a dragon not in the least. Your shields, in fact,vexus.
If they were not there, protecting these islands and those animals that graze here, would your kind not have hunted some completely to extinction? Perhaps you should be grateful that the gods placed the shielders here.
Grateful that the delicious animals we desire to eat are forever kept from us.
They’re not extinct at least. Listen, if you give me a ride to three places on the continent of Droha where I can seek these components, I’ll do my best to prove myself along the journey. There’ll likely be combat and adventure.Syla would prefer to find the componentswithouteither of those things, but all that she’d heard and read about the dangers on the mainlands promised a high likelihood of adversity along the way. In particular, the idea of breaking into a laboratory that had been used—and secured—by a god was daunting.
During which you will impress me with your improving martial prowess? And ability to climb up a dragon’s tail to her back?
I’ll definitely work on that. As to the rest, I’ll use my magic to keep us safe, and I’ll attempt to be crafty to thwart whatever vicious predators we encounter.Did craftiness matter to a dragon? Syla didn’t know.And when we return, even ifyou’re not willing to bond with me, I’ll send hunters to wrangle whatever prey from our islands you wish and deliver them to you.
A feast is much more delicious after a vigorous hunt.
Are you saying you wouldn’t accept offerings of sheep or horn hog meat?
Thosearetantalizing.Wreylith shared the telepathic equivalent of a sigh.Come to me on the Island of Eliok, and I’ll consider taking you on your quest. But I expectmanyhorn hogs when we return. And darnyar. And, yes, definitely sheep.
I agree to finding those animals for you.Syla hoped she could locate a hunter willing to take on the task. She would need to dig into the castle coffers again. Assuming General Dolok or another hadn’t staged a successful coup by then and usurped the throne. She had best go about her quest as quickly as possible and return before anyone missed her.Any chance you’ll come to Castle Island to get me and… I need to take a couple of allies along. Can you carry more than two? Or bring a friend?
Bring a friend! Dragons do not have friends.
You have many admirers.
I have not agreed to carry more than you, much less talk another wild dragon into humiliating himself by accepting a human rider. It is bad enough that I’m considering such an undignified task. I would not be nearly as appealing to males if they saw me so demeaned.
I appreciate your willingness to endure that. I’ll throw in goats and a lukbar as well as the aforementioned offerings.Syla imagined a shepherd guiding an entire herd of animals through town and onto a cargo ship so they could be floated out beyond the barrier for a dragon.
There wasteasingafter the tail incident.
Two lukbar? Our people quite enjoy their meat. We slow-roast them over a spit, brushing them with blueberry glaze each hour so they’re sweet as well as savory.
Wreylith either considered that for a moment or was busy scratching an itch. Finally, she said,You will come to me on the Island of Eliok if you wish my assistance. There is no barrier here to keep me from plucking you up.
For now, Syla thought, determined to change that. What she said to Wreylith was,I’ll be there as soon as I can.
The books in the library on Queen Erasbella said nothing about dragons.
