Private Tales Flint to the Fire

[Talorgan]

One eyebrow went up. He would not have expected Nadya to see Biersys as beneath her.

No, that tone came from concern for herself, not an aversion to the idea.

"I mean that you should fly north and wait for me. I know a spot. Then we will ride on the last miles on Biersys together. And then walk. A dragon can be seen in the sky for miles and miles."

He let that sink in.

 

[Nadya]

Relief flooded over her expression, letting out a nervous laugh.

"Right." She snorted before taking a few bites of her lunch. When her mouth was clear, she spoke again. "Just excuse the fact I will close my eyes the entire way while I ride with you on Biersys. Up in the skies, I am comfortable, but moving at speeds so close to the ground? Ugh. I am feeling nauseated just thinking about it."

She shuddered, but Nadya did not pause in her lunch. Another bite, another smile to her friend.

"Surely it wouldn't take you a few days travel. I know we established that Kalyss is quicker, but you really cannot expect me to wait for you for a few days."

 

[Talorgan]

"If we leave at dawn I can get there before dusk," he said. "Then approach the tribe the next morning."

He offered a sidelong glance and just a hint of a smile.

"The ground is uneven. Not a straight run that way. Kalyss can glide over long distance, Biersys cannot keep that pace through a forest or over hills.

"And we may walk, if it will save your nerves..."

 

[Nadya]

Nadya snorted. "Then we should have Kalyss fly us all to the location." She said simply, cutting into her lunch and taking a bite. She covered her mouth with a hand, still keeping some level of manners with a mouth full of food. "I am not going to sit on my arse all day waiting on you, Tal." Nadya rolled her eyes, but as she finished her chewing, she cast him a smile.

The Wylds were a place she was not used to, for she was more comfortable in the air than to be on the ground, and liked the advantage of being able to see from above. She was a dragon rider, of course she would prefer the skies. Even when she was young, she did not take well to learning to ride a horse.

 

[Talorgan]

Talorgan looked a little concerned. His smile went away. It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, it was just being at a fatal height with no control of the situation was far worse than being close to the ground.

"We could do that," he said. His tone was muted. "Biersys could run a little wild for a day or two until we come back."

Pragmatically, the plan worked. It certainly saved Nadya from waiting around for him.

"It has been a few months since I was taken that high," he admitted.

 

[Nadya]

Having won him over so easily, it made Nadya grin widely. She raised her brows at him, teasing him for the slight concern he gave her.

"Oh, come on. Tal, you'll be right!" Something a dragon rider would say to anyone that has not experienced such a thing. "I mean, Kalyss doesn't mind if I share the saddle with someone else. I'll even let you hold the reins. Maybe strap you in."

It amused her to see him be nervous. He would be used to fast travel, to feel the air and wind rush by you but it would be the fact dragons preferred higher altitudes. And Kalyss certainly liked to fly so high.

"I promise not to tell anyone you screamed." Came further teasing from the Storm Dragon rider.

 

[Talorgan]

"Hhmph."

He didn't like how obvious it was now. Despite the mocking, he enjoyed his persona of mystery. The wild child that fraternised with tribal men.

That did not mesh well with does not like flying when someone else has the reins.

"I do trust you and there will be no screaming," he added.

Talorgan pushed his chair back from the table.

"I will tell Biersys that I am going with you. She will either sulk or be glad of a free run for a day."

 

[Nadya]

Nadya chuckled. "Well, she can run around following us on the last of my patrol this afternoon if you wanted to get some flying out of the way?" She suggested, taking another bite of her meal. "It's slow stuff. Have you get used to Kalyss gliding most of the time."

If anything, she looked forward to seeing Tal on a dragon. Even if they had to share the saddle, she looked forward to witnessing his experience of riding with Kalyss. "But honestly. Any screaming or shouting, I will demand you buy me drinks as payment for my hearing damage."

 

[Talorgan]

He agreed to her proposal and they moved away from the Talorgan - as it turned out - was more unusually quiet on the way to their flight. There were murmured complaints and soft grunts as they approached her great dragon.

Talorgan was a trained rider. He could cope with heights. It had, however, been a long time since he placed his fate in the hands of another rider like this. He had spend years trying to be wild, free and independent. He was also embarrassed to be nervous.

He followed Nadya into the shadow of the great storm dragons, slowly to bow low.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. "How do you even get up there again? And not that stunt you pulled."

 

[Nadya]

Nadya was not shy to loud loudly, turning to look over at her friend with a smile that belonged to a fiend.

"You can watch me, first. If you ask him nicely, I am sure he would get down lower to the ground for you." But she had been thinking about this as they walked over to where the last Storm Dragon of Thanasis came to land, summoned by his bonded.

There was a rope dyed dark near his shoulder, and Nadya gripped it tight. Her hands were gloved, giving her a good grip as she lifted herself and pulled her entire being up his side and climbed into her saddle.

When it came to Talorgan's turn to climb up, the large drake kneeled low enough for the male to take hold of the rope, and to assist his ascent, would tilt his body to ensure there was not much steepness for the man of the wylds. Nadya held a hand out to him, helping him to the space behind her. Kalyss waited for Nadya's command to fly, as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"Whatever you do, don't break my ribs or I will break your nose."

 

[Talorgan]

He had climbed small mountains just for the thrill of it. The dragon, great as he was, could not be as large as a mountain.

That was what Talorgan told himself.

He watched Nadya on her ascent. He had no bond with this dragon, but he could feel the weight of it's presence. Old. Resilient. Perhaps he was like the mountains.

Talorgan took rope and hand to draw himself up. Each movement of Kalyss came as a surprise. Even the dragon lifting his head and taking them up above the ground made him tense.

"Whatever you do, don't break my ribs or I will break your nose."

"I will do no such thing," he said. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and drew them close. As a third son - and a wild one at that - he felt little sense of proprietary around close contact. There was little pressure to marry and most of the rules of society were there to allow the families to use their first sons and daughters as bargaining chips.

"Go on then," he murmured. He closed his eyes. She could quite easily have thrown her head back to break his nose, he thought to himself.

 

[Nadya]

Nadya did not mind him being close as he was to her, but he needed to hold on properly or else they both were going to be in strife. "Hold me with both your arms. You can relax a little once you get a feel for flying, alright?" No more teasing, no more digs, Nadya was speaking to him like anyone else.

It was rare for dragons to allow another person to ride them other than their bonded, but Kalyss at least trusted Nadya with this.

Her arm would hold Tal's arms in place around her, tapping his hand to warn him the Storm Dragon was on the move, and within seconds, Kalyss took to the skies. Those on the ramparts watched in awe as the large dragon moved quickly, his great wings taking them to high altitudes, and then above the cloud cover.

Nadya grinned, eyes watering slightly from the wind but excited all the same. From there, Kalyss soared slowly, lowering them all to scan the last section of their patrol.

 

[Talorgan]

Both hands were wrapped around her firmly as soon as he felt Kalyss dip. He was such a great dragon, and he could feel the tension coiling as he prepared to leap.

He still didn't expect the release of tension to launch them forwards and upwards with such force. He hissed between her teeth, leaned into Nadya's back and waited for his stomach to find itself again.

Be let out a slow breath and leaned back as the dragon found enough altitude to level off. Kalyss was so large he needed to conserve energy and use the wind and thermals to keep gaining height. For now he was staying low enough to watch the territory around the base.

Talorgan might have explored the wilds close to the ground but he still had the training and knowledge of any born to a family of riders.

"Is the great dragon rider going to be ready to walk to last of the way on her soft feet?" he teased.

 

[Nadya]

Not used to someone sharing a ride with her, especially one that was not any of her sisters, Nadya kept her thoughts on keeping her passenger alive by keeping herself perfectly seated and ready to correct their seat if needed. But Talorgan was a natural, he knew how to understand the movement of the dragon's intent to prepare himself.

Even at his teasing words, which had to be said close to her ear in order for Nadya to hear him, he would be able to feel the female rider snort through her body movement against him. "Oh come on. Walking on my feet is nothing. You should see me when I walk myself home after a night of lots of drinking. If I can make it from the Palace District to the Outer City in one night, then I can walk whatever distance it is to this village."

At this, she turned to peek over her shoulder to show him her smug grin. "Hope you got some grog on you, Tally." Came her teasing remark in return.

 

[Talorgan]

"Grog. No."

He was grinning right back at her. A thought had struck him.

"Walking the wilds over boulders and hills is not like a nice flagstones in a safe city..."

"...and a gentle grog is nothing compared to the potatoe vodka the wild men distill."

He looked out over the expansive wingspan. The dragon was using small movements to alter the shape of its wings now to glide.

"I suspect both will test your stamina."

 

[Nadya]

Nadya had quipped back with her own teasing remark to challenge Talorgan, and the rest of the ride continued in similar manner.

With her scouting done, a quick debrief back at the outpost, they were once more in the air going to directions Tal was guiding Nadya to relay to her bonded dragon. Hours turned quickly in the dark, the sky lightening with dawn approaching. Reaching back, Nadya patted Tal's leg that rested at her side, wanting his attention.

"How much further now?"

 

[Talorgan]

Talorgan had settled into a pleasant reverie as they flew. Neither asleep nor fully awake. He flinched at her touch and sat upright.

He grunted and leaned out to every side of the great dragon to take in the landscape.

"You see those hills..."

He pressed his chin to her shoulder and cheek against her head so he could line up their perspectives and point.

"Take us low and land just before those. We can find the human tribe I know on the far side of the hills. It's a few hours on foot. Unless you need to be carried."

 

[Nadya]

Nadya snorted, a sound Talorgan probably just make out over the wind. Kalyss knew the intstruction and made to land in the spacing the male had pointed out. Because she had not said something witty in response to Tal's taunting, the dragon made sure the landing was not a slow descent at all, but rather one that was hard and fast, crashing into the earth with a significant force.

She had been laughing and delighting the entire way, now moving to dismount as Kalyss lowered his bely to the earthen floor to allow Tal to slide off his front leg easier.

Boots on the ground, a pack of her own supplies now secured across her torso, she looked to her friend with a smile. "I bet you're excited for this long walk after all that flying." And she nudged him, urging him to lead them both and get their journey started.

Kalyss took off not a moment later, ready to return to his bonded after she spent time with the Wylds. Hunting, she knew he would be hunting in these parts to sate his appetite.

 

[Talorgan]

Talorgan found his legs just a little weak as he climbed down Kalyss' legs. He had been quite certain that the dragon was going to crash into the ground, go tumbling and crush them to death.

He made a quiet, stoic: "Humph," as he set himself down and checked his equipment. His refusal to provide a reaction was probably all she needed to find amusement.

"We should make sure we arrive in the light. In the darkness they may have moth dragons on guard. Those, I cannot reason with," Talorgan said.

She probably didn't know that the wild folk had learned to tame some of the smaller species of dragons. Most from the city refused to believe such things. It chipped away at their sense of self importance.

 

[Nadya]

Nadya raised her brows, looking to him with some intrigue. Still, she had reservations on this trip, but she got along with Talorgan better than the rest of his family. She trusted him, trusted that he wouldn't have invited her to see a settlement if he didn't think she would be eager to learn more about the communities beyond Thanasis.

"Just how many different species are out here?"

Her imagination ran wild, but still came up blank with the scope of what truly existed out in these parts.

She ensured her pack was comfortable before nearing Tal and nudging him to start leading in their walk. "Well, are we arriving on time or do we need to make camp for a few hours somewhere?" She liked to think she could certainly walk the entire way, but Nadya's endurance would definitely be tested as a rider.

 

[Talorgan]

"How many?" Talorgan mused. "There are a lot. As well as the Moth Dragons there are little Moon Dragons. The wild people have trained some of both. If you include all the wyverns as well as dragons there are many smaller species out here."

He had tried to learn more about them, but they were often secretive or dangerous.

"That moon dragons and moth dragons are often seen at night, I wonder how many more might be nocturnal that we don't even know about."

Talorgan thought about her second question.

"If we move quickly we can get to them as the sun goes down. A hard march," he said after considering where the sun was. "Or we can change the route and find somewhere safe for the night."

 

[Nadya]

"Moon Dragons?" Of course, even the Thanasian dragons would be found out here. It was common knowledge that the Moon Dragons were a number thinning each year, even more so after the Moon Dragon Dance that celebrated the eclipse and saw a great number of the celestial dragons killed. Nadya had a single Moon Dragon rider in her Wing, and even Greydon spoke to her about the declining numbers of his House's dragons.

But she wasn't here to have ideas of getting a breeding program done. She was not here to save a species.

She was here for Talorgan and his efforts in showing her the remote communities that did not live by the rules and customs in the city of Thanasis.

"I am sure we can keep to the current schedule. When night comes wherever we may be, I am sure I will see these Moth Dragons." She followed him in the direction he began to lead them towards, and Nadya hoped to get her legs loosened up before long. If she were to complain about sore legs not even a chunk into their trek, she knew Talorgan would not let her hear the end of it.

 

[Talorgan]

"What we don't want to do is see the moth dragons before we see the tribe..." Talorgan said.

"They are not so large, but they can be aggressive at night."

Talorgan wasn't sure why he had brought Nadya out here. There were just a handful in the city who really wanted to understand the conditions beyond the wall. Maybe he liked the idea of someone else in the upper echelons of society taking an interest. Perhaps, he just enjoyed the company.

---

The sun was still high enough that they could see the smoke rising from the rocks.

Talorgan had explained that they used the terrain as a natural fort for shelter at night.

"Looks like they haven't all returned back," Talorgan said, nodding to their right. They were being watched from a distance.

 

[Nadya]

There was a stiffening in her stature as she felt eyes upon them, and she was glad that she was here with Talorgan. She was certain he knew several of their languages and dialects, but all Nadya knew was Thanasian, High Thanasian, and the Common Tongue in small conversations.

"Alright then, tell them we are friendly. They don't look happy to see me." She was in her riding leathers. Even her unusual hair garnered some stares back home.

Nadya never felt like an outsider until now.

"Gods, I miss people kissing my feet for being bonded to Kalyss, but this?" The Wing Leader was not used to being out of command and relying on another.

 

[Talorgan]

"Feet? Probably all the noble boys know how to kiss," Talorgan muttered.

There was no irony in his voice. Talorgan breezed past the fact that he was high born. In fact, it was that position that gave him the freedom to explore as he did.

"Just don't look nervous," Talorgan laughed.

He called something out in a strange tongue. There was no reaction.

The two scouts stood and started to walk a parallel path after a few seconds.

"I'm still learning the language so hopefully we see someone I recognise. Look!"

Talorgan pointed ahead. There was a narrow path up through the rocks and a small group emerged with two leashed moth dragons.