Page 206 of Dragon Champion (Age of Fire 1)

“We’ve heard rumors of battles. Sometimes dragons disappear.”

“I’ve seen what these men are doing with the help of our kind, and it’s horrible.”

“What’s going on down here is horrible too, Au—NooShoahk,” Natasatch said, in a whisper that matched his. “They take our eggs almost as soon as they’re laid. We hear they’re making a new kind of dragon. A dragon to serve man.”

“That’s not far from the truth. They’re not making dragons so much as shaping them. Perverting natural instincts, changing how dragons react to each other and men. I feel like I’ve landed on an island where the deer fly and the wolves roost in trees at night on the orders of field mice. But I’ve no idea what to do yet. I just can’t see how to get my claws into it.”

“Get help. If other dragons off the island knew what we were forced—”

“Other dragons? How many are there?” AuRon asked. “It took better than a year to find just one, and I knew where he was. Then there’s the problem of how to convince a male, who thinks you are coming to claim his territory, to abandon his range and take a week’s worth of . . . no, other dragons aren’t the answer. If we could get dwarves onto this island, they’d be able to mine up under all this, and they’re built for cave-fighting. But the dwarves I know have troubles of their own, and I wonder if all of them together would be enough against the dragons that are already here.”

“Blighters can tunnel. I’m told there are some on the other side of the island.”

“The blighters already work for them. But it wouldn’t hurt to talk to them.”

“Careful of the Dragonguard. Their captain lives to kill us: male, female, or hatchling. One scarred him when he was a child, they say.”

“I imagined it was something like that. I was acquainted with his father. When I take a deep breath I still feel a twinge to remember him by. I’ve no idea what became of him, but I know this Eliam carries his sword. Along with the grudge you speak of.”

“I’ve been in this hole for so long, I’ve forgotten what the sun looks like. At first I just slept, like the others, but I began to go mad. I had visions. I need air and light and space.”

AuRon tried to give himself hope for both of them. “Natasatch, I’ll do what I can. Perhaps I can get the Wyrmmaster to let me take you flying. I’ll say I can’t mate underground.”

“He’ll say learn, or lose your privilege. That’s what the other males do. We don’t have any choice, and then the eggs are taken.”

AuRon sighed. “I thought if I could just get at this wizard, I could kill him and fly back. But it seems all the men here are a part of his vision for the destiny of man. If he died, they’d still be able to breed and train dragons. There’s no magic to it—it’s a matter of skill and experience. It won’t stop with the death of one man.”

“They’ve had some trouble with us. There’s a reason there are so many empty ledges, gray. Some of us have taken to smashing our eggs, and this morning, Nereeza had a clutch.”

“Natasatch, give me a few days to think. We’ll get out of this somehow. You’ll see the sun and feel the sky, and fly—”

“Fly? I’ve never flown, AuRon. I’ve had this collar about my neck since they took me off that ship, and I’ve been in this cavern since my wings came out.”

AuRon blinked, astonished. So many seasons, so much time had passed since the day he had first flown. He tried to imagine Natasatch’s years in the damp. Somehow depriving her of flight seemed as much of a crime as what they were doing with the eggs.

“You’ll fly. As I’m true to the song of my ancestors, you’ll fly. We’ll go above the mountains, above the clouds, together.”

“Together? Like a mating flight?” Natasatch asked, tilting her head and resettling her wings.

“Well, I mean—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make jokes, but jokes are all that keep me going.”

“I’ll see you again soon,” AuRon said, jumping off her ledge. “Don’t lose heart.”

“I’ll be waiting. It’s all I do, after all.”

AuRon woke from his nap when the cart went by. It was not one of the two-wheeled ones, laden with food and pulled by a pony, but a lower, four-wheeled construct, high sided and thickly padded with mats of straw. One woman—it was rare to see human women among the dragons—pushed it, and the other pulled it from a leather strap about her waist. Four members of the Dragonguard walked before, carrying two-pointed spears AuRon remembered from his capture. He shuddered, and lifted his head when Eliam followed with four more of the Dragonguard. A pair of the Wyrmmaster’s green-clad assistants brought up the rear.

“All this effort to shovel out the sluice?” AuRon asked.

“It’s time to collect eggs, gray. We think one of them has laid. Sometimes they can be troublesome.”

“The eggs?”

Eliam stepped out of line and rounded on him. “You know what I mean. Come along, you might learn something about your place in the world.”

Which was just what AuRon was looking for. He trailed the procession past both gates.

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