Page 4 of Hidden Dragons

“Do people call you that because you’re as big as a bear?” He liked the teasing, playful tone in her voice.

“That, and he usually growls like one,” Robert put in. “And don’t get me started on his snoring. We share a suite in the Lair and I can hear him all the way in my bedchamber, on the other side of the sand pit.”

“That’s a lie,” Bear defended himself, even as he chuckled, used to Robert’s easy manner. The Mother of All had given him a good match in the fun loving, mischievous knight. They might look like opposites, but they complemented each other.

Bear helped Robert focus and Robert helped Bear see the humor in life. They had become good friends—more like brothers—since being chosen by Tildeth and Growloranth a dozen years ago.

“So you two live together?” Isabelle asked, looking from Bear to Robert and back.

“All four of us share quarters, in fact,”Tilly put in, craning her neck downward as her mate, Growloranth, removed the buck she had taken down from where Bear had put it over her back.

Growloranth moved away with his prize, using his sharp talons to skin and cut up the meat that the humans would eat. Bear watched Isabelle, who watched the dragons with rapt attention. When Growloranth shot a pinpoint of flame at his own forelimb, she jumped back a little, right into Bear. He put out his hands to steady her, caressing her shoulders.

“It’s okay. He’s cooking our dinner. See?” Bear whispered near her ear. He nodded toward Robert, sending a private message into his partner’s mind.“Go get the meat from your dragon. She’s trembling. We have to prove our dragon friends are not dangerous to her.”

“Don’t think I’m not taking note of how many times you’ve managed to put your hands on her,”Robert growled back into Bear’s mind, but he went anyway.

Robert collected the three steaks Growloranth had speared on one talon, using an old dragon scale as a platter. They kept a few of the dragons’ shed scales with them for just such instances. The scales were incredibly strong and impervious to just about anything. They also didn’t transfer heat. The steaks were sizzling on top of the scale when Robert brought them back to where Isabelle stood with Bear.

“I hope you like your venison well done,” Robert said, grinning as he presented the makeshift platter for Isabelle’s inspection.

“That’s amazing. Thank you, Sir Growloranth,” she said, turning to look at the dragons. They stood closer to the river, side by side. Bear knew they would share the rest of the deer as a snack. When they were done, there would be little left for the forest scavengers.

“You are very welcome, Lady Isabelle,”Growloranth replied, preening a little.

“Come, let’s sit and eat,” Bear invited, escorting her to the flat rocks by the small waterfall.

“She was sitting here, crying, when we found her,”Robert imparted directly to Bear’s mind, filling him in on what he’d missed while he and Tilly were hunting.

Robert also brought the bag of sweets and other provisions with him, and they set up an impromptu picnic on a large, flat boulder that peered out over the water’s edge. It had been Robert’s turn to make camp while Tilly and Bear hunted. The dragons enjoyed a good hunt, as did the knights, so they took it in turns to provide meat for the proverbial table while they were on extended patrols or special missions.

This time, it was the latter. Bear and his nearly invisible-in-daylight dragon would be flying forays over the border with Skithdron, doing reconnaissance. They were particularly interested in troop movements or, even worse, skith sightings along the border with Draconia. Not too long ago, the crazed king of Skithdron had tried to herd an army of the vile, venomous monsters over the border as a first wave of attack on the people of Draconia.

Dragons were the only real threat to the giant, snake-like skiths. Given enough concentrated flame, skiths could be turned to ash. And only dragons had that kind of firepower.

Skiths could spit their highly acidic venom for twenty feet or more. Only dragons had nearly-impenetrable scales that could withstand the acid long enough to fight the snake-like creatures. Many dragons and knights had been injured in battles on this border in recent years, and it was prudent to keep a close watch on the enemy forces positioned just over the rocky division between the two lands.

Tilly and Bear had been sent to the Border Lair for just that purpose. When it came to daylight flying, nobody was better suited to stealth with Tilly’s almost reflective, sky blue hide. Bear wore specially-made light-colored leathers on their secret flights and took careful notes of whatever they saw.

Oddly enough, Growloranth and Robert were well suited to another kind of stealth. They could blend in with almost any forest. Growloranth’s bronze-green hue adapted really well to the dark part of a loamy forest. He also was almost as good as the royal black dragons at night flying.

“Do you live in the village we flew over, just to the west?” Robert asked Isabelle as they all settled on the large boulder and began to eat.

“Halley’s Well. That’s the name of the village,” she answered as she accepted the smaller dragon scale upon which Bear had placed a portion of the meat and some of the other items they had with them. “I live on the outskirts, in the old healer’s hut. Mama and I fixed it up as best we could since nobody else was using it. It’s not far from here, through the woods. I come up here every day to fetch water.”

“But isn’t the village named for a well?” Bear asked, perplexed. If there was truly a well in Halley’s Well, then why did Isabelle have to fetch water from the river?

“It is, but the villagers can be…difficult sometimes,” she admitted. “Ever since Mama died, it’s just easier to stay away from them when I can. I keep to myself for the most part.”

“That doesn’t sound very neighborly,” Robert observed. Bear knew his partner was just as angry as he was about the way Isabelle seemed to have been treated by the villagers. They would have to investigate. There was no way around it.

“They are an…insular folk. They don’t like outsiders and they never really accepted Mama and me. It’s okay. I manage.” She shrugged quietly and went about eating the meal they had provided.

The poor mite looked like she hadn’t had a truly good meal in a long time. She savored every bite and seemed especially enraptured by the sweets. Bear unobtrusively put another portion of the sweet breads—his own portion, though he was careful to be sure she didn’t realize it—on her dragon scale plate. She tried to demur, but he politely insisted and she smiled in thanks.

Her smile could light a room, he decided, stunned for a moment by the way her eyes seemed to glow with happiness at his small kindness. They talked of the river and how it was high for this time of year. They talked of the weather and of the wildlife in the area. Slowly, Bear came to realize that his canny partner was probing for just the sort of information they had been assigned to discover, among other things.

Bear suddenly realized that they could kill two birds with one stone. They could use Isabelle’s knowledge of the surrounding area to their advantage, if she was willing. And by doing so, they could stay close to her for a few days.

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