Draconic Defender

The crystal sky was cloudless. The air was crisp and filled with the scents of season’s change. Nothing hindered her. The ground was far below. The troubles of humanoid and creature alike were, quite literally, far away.

Up here, there was no war. Up here, there were no squabbles about food or garments. There was no need for coin.

Alagaësia was filled with these kinds of troubles. Corrupt kings and monsters called Urgal were rampant. All struggled to survive.

Up here, however, among the clouds – there was only freedom.

That is what Dara liked about it. The freedom of flight was something she dreamed about when she was a child. Never did she think she would achieve such a dream, nor did she believe she would be one of the few to have the ultimate honor of being one of them – the Dragon Riders.

Once thought to have been driven extinct, Dara came across a single Dragon egg deep in the waters of the lake in her home. She was deep diving, nearly at the end of her breath, when she came across the strange looking stone. Believing it would be worth something, she carved it from the clay like sediment and hoisted it to the surface.

Little did she know that later that afternoon when enjoying the soothing sun warming her skin and drying her body that this thing she believed to be a rock would hatch into one of the first Dragons in decades.

Dara knew she needed to keep this a secret the moment the reptilian head peeked out from the edge of the shell. The stretch of the wings alone told her this Dragon would be immense, undoubtedly as large as one of the Greats from legends and stories she’d heard about from her parents.

The connection between them was instantaneous, both because of the bond between rider and Dragon and because of their similar demeanors. Both elected to be alone, and both had a love for the sky and sea. Land was not half as interesting as what lurked beneath the cresting waves of lakes and the open waters or the clouds of water above.

Learning to ride and be one with her dragon was a journey all on its own. Not only did Dara have to work with the Dragon to come up with an appropriate, which was an atrocious ordeal because the Dragon was quite particular in what she wanted to be called, finally settling on Saphiree, but also how to coordinate their movements at the drop of a hat.

They learned to be with one another and, several years later, they were a unified force.

As they soared far above the land below, arms and wings outstretched, they let the clouds wash over them. The cool moisture brushed their skin and hide like delicate, untouchable feathers. They would be an undetectable speck at this height, completely and utterly free.

Dara let her head lull backward as she closed her eyes and absorbed the light of the sun. So close to touching the heavens and yet perfectly mortal she thought. Dara could have lost herself in the moment if the same introspective voice didn’t come creeping into the back of her mind.

“Shall we dive?” asked Saphi as she tilted her wings to bank to the right over a patch of lake far enough away from their hometown of Nethri to remain undetected. Dara opened her fair lavender eyes and peered down at the sun dappled ground at the place Saphi gestured to with her claw.

The place looked deep enough, but at this height Dara would most definitely injure herself.

“A little lower,” said Dara though the link in her mind that her and her Dragon shared.

“You’re no fun,” said Saphi disappointedly.

“Trying to hurt me?” Dara asked in a teasing, amused tone.

“I just wish you were more durable, that’s all,” replied Saphi. Dara could tell by her tone she was teasing, but Dara couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. She knew Saphi could take so much more physical punishment than Dara could. She hated to hold Saphi back and decided on a compromise.

“Dive hard and then pull up just before you hit the water. I’ll jump off on the ascend,” directed Dara. A rush of pleasure ran through Saphi’s mind.

“Noes toes it is,” grinned the Dragon as she pulled her wings in tight to her body. With alarming speed in a perfect streamlined position, they dove at the ground. Tears stung at Dara’s eyes. It was her heritage that gave her the blessing of maintaining her sight on the ground below. A normal human surely would have passed out with speeds like these. She had her father to thank for this inherited trait.

Faster and faster, they plummeted toward the glinting surface of the waves. Dara felt Saphi’s powerful lungs heave beneath her legs. Closing her eyes, Dara could feel both of their hearts racing as pure adrenaline coursed through their veins. It was like they were exposed nerves to each other, perfectly capable in physical and mental strength and yet completely vulnerable.

Dara watched the ground getting closer and closer with every second. Any moment they would turn. It would take every ounce of strength Dara had to hang on as Saphi turned her nose back to the sky, but the way her insides fluttered at their freefall was worth every moment of impending pain her arms would endure.

“Now?” asked Saphi through their mental link.

“No, not yet,” directed Dara.

“We’re close,” reminded Saphi.

“Not close enough. Just a little more,” encouraged Dara.

“We’re too close! I have to pull us up!” said Saphi. She felt a wave of worry wash over her that came from the Dragon she was mounted on.

“On my mark,” instructed Dara. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four.

“Dara!”

Two. One.

“Mark! Now! Pull up!” shouted Dara. Saphi roared as she threw her head back, wings flaring, as she attempted to make the needed arc before they hit the ground. Dara felt every muscle of her Dragon tensing and flexing, challenging both of their levels of strength, as her claws barely scraped the surface of the water before soaring back up into the sky. Dara let a scream rise in her throat as her arms and legs threatened to let her slip.

Coasting, Saphi let herself fall back to the surface just as Dara pushed herself off of the saddle she constructed years ago. Both of them spiraled together and, in one fluid motion, dove beneath the waves of the murky lake water below.

Dara, with little air in her lungs, only made it to the first tier in the lakebed before needing to return to the surface for air. Saphi, on the other hand, glanced back at her rider before plummeting further down below in search of large fish for lunch. Dara pushed off of the ground and kicked to the surface, barely breaking the surface before gasping for air.

Once again, she was in bliss as she laid back in the water and floated effortlessly on the surface. She could hear the deep scratching and swirling of water and rock below her as Saphi was undoubtedly ending some poor creature that couldn’t get away fast enough.

How the two of them managed to stay undetected all these years, Dara didn’t know. What she did know was that she promised to make an appearance in town today and see Arun, the haggard woman of Nethri who made necklaces and charms from the shells and spines from things Dara dredged up from the lakebed.

Suddenly, Dara was under water. A rush of bubbles from below made Dara lose her concentration and her head slipped beneath the waves. She instantly fought to the surface and coughed up the water that threaten to invade her lungs just as she heard Saphi chuckle and break the surface, propping her rider onto her back.

Dara caught her balance on her Dragon’s scales and gave the sea foam green eyes a glare.

“Not funny,” scolded Dara. “I actually swallowed some water.”

“And you’ll take in more than that if I plunge to the true depths of this lake. Had you waited another second, you would’ve taken a face full of water and maybe even some broken bones for good measure. Don’t do that again,” scolded Saphi right back. She dipped her head below the surface and wetted her head, making her blue-green scales shimmer and come to life, each scale looking like a pool of water all on its own.

Dara sighed and smiled. “I guess I got carried away. Sorry,” she apologized.

“Accepted. Now, if I’m not mistaken, you have to get back to do human-elf things in the town and I have to annihilate that pesky school of fish that thinks it’s too fast for me,” stated Saphi.

“One dive and then the afternoon is yours,” stated Dara as she wrestled her thick chestnut hair into a tangled, messy braid. She gripped onto the spines of Saphi’s back as the Dragon dove beneath the waves once more, plunging deep and arriving at the bottom mere seconds after slipping beneath the surface.

Below the surface was a murky mess, but Dara’s keen eyes picked up the shapes of the world beneath the waves. She let go and watched Saphi dive further down and scoop up a mouthful of muck and head to the surface without her. Dara stayed and ran her fingers through the water until she found a couple of promising looking clams before launching herself off of the bottom and heading back to the surface.

Dara breeched the surface to the gagging and hacking sounds of Saphi, who was scraping her tongue against her claws. It was coated in mud and a few fragments of shell.

“I hate this. I do. I really hate helping you sometimes. I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t taste terrible!” She continued to scrape her tongue until she gave up and marched back into the water. “I’m going to fill my mouth with something desirable, like that pesky fish who thinks it can best me!”

“Remember to come up from air from time to time,” Dara reminded.

“Yeah yeah halfa. Enjoy,” stated her Dragon as she slipped beneath the waves. Dara pursed her lips at hearing Saphi calling her out for her part elvan, part human blood, but she knew Saphi didn’t mean it maliciously. Still, this is something they would need to discuss later.

Dara sifted through the muck and found a few dozen shells that seemed promising as well as a handful of fish bones before she placed them into her side satchel and walked toward the town of Nethrí.

It was a long walk, but it was necessary to keep Saphi a secret. Dragons, after all, were thought to be extinct and would undoubtedly be hunted down and killed in an instant if the wicked king were to find her.

So, rather than ride Saphi, Dara made the several mile trek over pebbles and stones, forest trails and fallen logs until she spotted the first chimney stack from the Karet’s family home. The dirt road, unchanged after years, was firm beneath Dara’s feet as she walked past the stone homes of Nethrí.

The stone homes, pale except for the slight growing moss along the wedges of the walls. The windows in the homes, misted around the edges from moisture, were obviously worn and weathered. The center of the town was a series of large wells and watering holes for livestock and washing. These were also constructed of stone and were weathered from years of use.

As if on cue, Dara could hear the jangling and scuffling of bones and the clanking of shells. It was Arun. She was propped up against the base of one of the common access watering holes tossing her fish bones and shells onto a woven mat in front of her. Her scraggly white and greying black hair clung to her head and in the bun she had tied it up into. Her tattered clothes were covered in thumb sized holes, but her smile was thoughtful, and kind as were her eyes.

The haggard woman spotted the young half-elf instantly, and her smile spread through Dara like the warmth of the sun.

“Well,” she said, the melodic lilt of her voice was like that of a great-grandmother. “If it isn’t my favorite.”

“You say that about everyone who comes to see you,” said Dara in a friendly tone.

“Doesn’t make it untrue,” replied Arun. “You’ve brought me something?” Arun cocked her head over to the side and pointed to the satchel at Dara’s side. Without delay, Dara removed the side pouch and poured them next to the mat Arun was working on moments before. The older woman shuffled through the bones and shells gleefully and pried some of the shells open to see the iridescent interiors.

“Oh! How beautiful!” she cooed. “Quite deep where these are found, are they not?”

“I can’t see that far when I’m down there. I was probably very deep,” said Dara, hoping the older woman wouldn’t pry further. Thankfully, she didn’t. She merely hummed her response and shuffled the shell fragments away and produced a few coins, holding them out to Dara, but she waved them away.

“I don’t need coin today, Arun. Maybe next time,” said Dara. Arun looked mildly offended, but in a playful and exaggerated way to let Dara know she wasn’t entirely opposed to keeping her coin.

“Oh, but beautiful fragments deserve payment and reward, don’t they? What if we exchange trade? These shells for a reading?” asked Arun. Dara knew the haggardly woman claimed she could read and discern futures. In a world of magic and Dragons, Dara didn’t doubt that such abilities were possible. Still, she didn’t know if Arun possessed such abilities.

It would be rude to refuse, so the young woman nodded. Arun gathered up the shell fragments, smiling and nodding over and over, as she cleared off her mat and, in one sweeping motion, scattered the bones and shells onto the mat.

She turned a few over and recast a few, but it wasn’t until Arun squinted that Dara did a double take.

“My child, darkness approaches,” breathed Arun. Dara looked down and squinted at the shells and bones herself. She didn’t see anything. It looked like a mess, like a family of otters had come through and broken the shells of their prey before abandoning them by the edge of the lake. She looked back up to Arun to ask her to clarify what she meant when a cold chill ran through Dara’s spine.

Arun’s eyes had glazed over white, completely opaque, and the look on her face was that of mortal danger. Her back was hunched over rigid, like someone had punched her in the gut. She was shaking all over, trembling in fear as she looked past Dara to the sea beyond.

“Arun? Arun!” Dara reached forward forcefully and grabbed the elderly woman’s shoulders and shook her, but it didn’t stop the spouting of strung together babbling nonsense from the woman Dara cared for as a grandmother. Her voice was two toned, deeper and not at all matching the frail woman she usually saw before her.

“Message on the wind. Gnashing teeth. Darkness. As the sun sets, fury shall ravage the town. Their screams will be heard from the tops of the hills and the lands to come. Ghosts and shadows will inhabit these homes. A spark from the sea is all that can save us. Eyes of lavender and sea foam green. A sacrifice must be made to save them now.”

With that, Arun gasped for air, clutching at her chest. There was a moment of pause as she blinked and looked into Dara’s eyes.

“My dear, are you alright? You look like someone just walked over your grave,” stated Arun. It was chilling to the bone, but something about it rang true to Dara. She looked back to the shells and looked to the lake behind her.

“Do you… not remember?”

“Remember what deary?” asked Arun. This was too unnerving. This was too strange. Did what she thought happened actually happen? Did Arun tap into something?

“I… have there been any weird reports in town, Arun? Has the hunting party returned from the hills?” asked Dara, trying to think of something – anything – that could serve as an alternative explanation for what just happened.

“Well, no. They haven’t returned. Odd. They’re taking rather long, aren’t they,” Arun said before reaching back down and shuffling around the shells and bones.

Dara tried to breathe deeply to calm her racing heart, but there was nothing that could be done. Her skin tingled and her hair was standing up on its end. She knew she needed to find out what was going on in the woods beyond.

“Yes, they are. You take care of yourself Arun. Find somewhere to stay inside tonight, okay?” breathed Dara as she stood up rapidly and began jogging to the stables where the horses would undoubtedly return after the hunters returned.

She greeted the stable hands and waved to the people nearby, but it didn’t make her feel at ease to see their smiling faces. Her mind was a torrent storm of thought. For nearly two hours, Dara went over the words over and over spoken by Arun and thought about what it might mean. Were Arun’s words meant to be taken literally? Lavender and sea foam green eyes was quite literally her and Saphi. Did that mean… did Arun know? Did Arun see Saphi?

She didn’t have time to reach out to her Dragon to find out. There, emerging from the forest, were the members of the hunting party – most of them.

Dara watched in horror as only half of the hunting party came charging out of the woods at full speed on their steeds, and half of them were wounded. Fear filled their eyes. There was no doubt something happened, and it wasn’t because of an animal they were planning to hunt.

“What happened?” called the others as they too ran forward to assist the hunters who were slipping from their seats, quickly losing consciousness. Dara rushed forward and began using strips of her shirt to tie off the wounds.

“Are you alright?”

“What happened to the others?”

“Were you attacked?”

Questions were thrown left and right at the hunters to ascertain what really occurred.

It was one bone chilling word, however, that told everyone what they needed to know.

Urgal.

Urgal, the creatures of darkness and humanoid in nature, are sentient beings. They are evil, bloodthirsty creatures that have no remorse for their acts of cruelty. More importantly, their roaming tribes are ruled by the king and his lackies, particularly a dangerous Shade.

This was bad.

This was really bad.

Dara looked to the forest and listened to what happened. Evidently, they were hunting a few rogue boars when they suddenly realized they were the ones being hunted. They were ambushed and attacked, the few of them managing to make it back with their lives.

But there was no chance the urgal would leave fresh spilled blood unattended to – and there was a trail leading right to the town of Nethrí. Based on their account of the event, there were dozens – and they were undoubtedly coming for them.

Heart racing, Dara wasn’t sure what she could do to make things right. All she knew was that she needed to protect her home and the families living there.

She stood up and breathed deeply, knowing what needed to be done.

“Saphi,” she thought, reaching out with that mind link between her and her Dragon.

“Hm?” Saphi sounded dazed and sleepy. Dara wondered if she managed to get that fish when the pressing matter shattered her distracting thought.

“We have trouble. Urgal are coming to Nethrí.” There was an instant shift in energy coming from Saphi. A raging, hostile energy that only festered in true anger.

“When? Where?” All hints of sleep were banished from Saphi’s voice from inside Dara’s mind.

“Just now. The hunting party was attacked. Half of them are gone and the others are injured,” informed Dara as she began marching toward the water back to Saphi.

“And there’s no doubt they will come to finish the job. Can’t resist the smell of fresh spilled blood,” growled Saphi. Dara couldn’t help but imagine the little lip snarl Saphi got when she was frustrated and angry.

“I know, and… there’s one other thing,” said Dara. “Arun. She said things. It was weird, like some kind of prophetic warning. She said darkness was coming and that death would happen at sunset. She said that lavender and sea foam green eyes were their only chance of survival.”

Saphi was silent.

“Saphi?” called Dara.

“Yes?”

“Well? What do you think?” prompted Dara as she finally made it to the shoreline. “You usually say Arun is a crazy old bat who has chewed too many bones.”

“I also think that, from time to time, we receive signs from the universe and the stars. Is that so strange to think that haggard loon of a woman could’ve received something like this? It’s too close together. It’s too close to be coincidence,” said Saphi.

“Agreed, but I wouldn’t call her a loon of a woman,” concurred Dara.

“So, shall we?” Saphi asked, obviously excited for a hunt of her own. Dara stopped in her tracks as she looked out onto the water, knowing Saphi was undoubtedly looking back from her hiding place on the other side of the lake. The sun was preparing to set nearby. There was no doubt things would be happening soon if all were true.

“You know what this means?” asked Dara. “We could be seen by the others. Our secret could get out.”

“And?”

“And won’t that be bad?” Dara pointed out. “We’ve been keeping both of us a secret for quite some time now. If the king finds out…”

“Don’t you think it’s odd? Now? Years have passed and no urgal have come by this area. Now, there’s an attack? We might be found out already by the higher powers that be. If that’s the case, the only ones we’re keeping this from are the people in the town. We were keeping it a secret so they wouldn’t be hurt, but it might be too late for that now. It’s ultimately your call, but I say it’s time for us to rise to the occasion. What say you?”

Dara thought only for a moment before giving her answer.

“I say good hunting. Let’s go,” said Dara. Their decision was unanimous. It was definitive. While terrifying, it was also exhilarating.

Dara turned and began running along the banks of the water. She and Saphi would meet halfway and use that as their launch point, taking to the air from there and using the cover of the hills and trees to hunt the foul creatures.

As she ran, her mind and heart pounded at the same pace. Both were racing. Both felt excited and nervous. Both felt the weight of what could possibly happen if they were discovered. The pebbles crunched underfoot with each spring forward. The water lapped against the shore rhythmically, smoothing the stones at the banks.

Saphi, experiencing the same, flew mere feet above the water’s surface along the edge of the water’s domain until she spotted her rider running. The duo made eye-contact, and Saphi knew in an instant that Dara wanted a running launch. The Dragon sped up before flipping to run parallel with her rider and spun upside down, dipping down just long enough for Dara to jump and dig her fingers into the scales on her neck.

“To the woods?” asked Saphi.

“To the woods. Let’s try to stay out of sight for now if we can. Just above the tops of the trees.”

Time was running out, but the two of them felt a calm overtake them. It was the calm before the storm. It was the tranquility just before the strike of lightening as it arced across the sky. Together, they would stop the rampaging urgal before they arrived at the town.

Saphi’s wings beat rhythmically as she focused all of her senses onto the forest below. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to detect the wretched stench of those creatures. Mingled among the smell of the decaying undergrowth of the forest, Saphi’s keen senses picked up the quickly overwhelming scent of many enemies rapidly approaching.

To her left, she knew the town was just on the other sides of the tree tops she glided past. Through her link, the Dragon could sense Dara was anxious about flying so close to civilization, especially because no one was aware that a Dragon had returned to the world straight from history and legend. To compensate, she tilted her wings and listed off to the right to hopefully attack the enemy from the rear.

“See anything?” asked Dara, her thoughts linked and ringing clearly in the Dragon’s mind.

“No, but I smell them, and that’s all I need,” Saphi relayed. “I can ignite the forest and eliminate them all in a matter of seco…”

“No, that will be too noticeable. We have to hit them hard on the ground,” directed Dara.

“Close quarters combat? Even better.”

Dara imagined Saphi grinning from ear to ear simply from hearing the glee in her voice at the mere thought of clamping her saber like teeth down on the urgal. Dara braced herself as Saphi pointed with the tip of her nose where the enemy was.

“There,” she stated.

“Let’s do this.” Dara crouched low against her Dragon companion’s scales, knowing Saphi would be plunging through the trees from above. Scrapes and injuries were unavoidable, but this was a small price to pay for the safety of Nethrí.

Dara’s heart pounded in her chest, hard and fast, as the two of them dipped beneath the trees, Saphi digging her claws into the ground as she landed with a solid thud. Dara’s eyes adjusted in a moment to the relative darkness around them and, instantly, her insides dropped. There were far more than she anticipated – far more.

Dozens of urgal were skittering among the roots and shadows of the forest brandishing weapons of all makes. Their beady eyes turned on the pair, their charcoal-colored irises glinting in the light of the setting sun. It looked like dozens of white dots littered the ground around them like the tips of candles ignited in the fading light.

Saphi growled and crouched while revealing her razor-sharp teeth locked into her jaw while Dara raised her hand, allowing her magical energy to surge. She uttered the simple command for fire as she raised her bow and fired a single shot into the nearest urgal.

While Dara fired from above, Saphi leapt forward to snap her jaws over the creatures and dig her claws into their flesh while swinging her tail to smash them into the base of the trees around them. The swords of the urgal scraped and pierced at Saphi’s great scales, but her injuries were little more than scrapes in comparison to the damage she and her rider were dealing.

They fought together as one unit, commanding and directing one another while watching each other’s backs.

“Lunge forward now!”

“Shoot up high! In the trees! The trees!”

“On our side. Stomp!”

They acted as one unit – one person – while maintaining their autonomy.

All was going smoothly. They were working well and destroying their adversaries one by one.

And then…

Distant screams.

They were coming from the village.

Both Saphi and Dara heard it at the same time, and both were immediately enraged. A group of urgal must’ve managed to sneak past and made it to the town.

“Saphi!”

“I’m on it. You know what this means, don’t you?”

Dara breathed rigidly but nodded firmly.

“Do it.”

Saphi let out a tremendous roar and crashed through the trees, squashing many of her enemies under her foot. The two of them came crashing through the tree line, claws and bow ablaze, as they spotted the enemy in the streets tormenting and chasing down the civilians.

The pair waisted no time as they charged forward, Saphi leaping into the air and gliding down to pluck the wretched urgal from the ground as they did. More screams erupted from the people as they spotted both Saphi and Dara flying overhead, firing down upon the urgal and plucking them up from the streets.

The screams, however, didn’t last for long before the people rose up, gaining the necessary courage and strength to rise up for themselves. Seeing a legend come to life once again fueled their will to fight and defend their homes.

Blades clashed and some injuries were too great to heal, but both the townspeople and the duo of rider and Dragon came together to defend their home.

As the last urgal was slain, Saphi and Dara glided above the town in large arcs. Dara, fear ruling her instincts, was reluctant to descend and face the people below. Saphi felt her rider’s fear and sent wave after wave of reassuring energy.

“Breathe, and just talk to them.”

They arced back down, making a lower pass just above the ground.

They didn’t hear any jeering or screams as they passed overhead this time. Instead, they heard another noise – cheers. Applause. Dara listened and heard her name being called from the ground and the oohs and ahhs of the people below as they gazed awestruck at Saphi.

“See?” beamed Saphi. “You see it, right? The look in their eyes.”

The both of them landed and Dara looked out into the faces and the eyes of the people of the town. Yes. Dara could see it now.

It was hope.

The people had hope – and Dara swore to herself she would not let that spark diminish. She was a Dragon Rider.