The Land of Dragons

Chapter 22

After Chapter 21

"Technically, you do have a choice," Seb replied to Max. "But the thing is, no one ever refused to become a Dragonrider."

Oh well, then we basically don't have any choice, right? Max thought.

"I know it's a bit overwhelming at the moment, but please don't rush the decision." Seb smiled at him.

"To help you decide, I will read you the story of the Dragonriders." Lewis said, opening a book.

"In ancient times, dragons lived on the Earth. They were every bit as intelligent as humans, and they still are. However, they have two big weaknesses: they can't stand smoke, or rather, smog and they can't stand strong electromagnetic radiation either. A campfire's smoke does no harm to them, but they would fall sick fast in a town with busy traffic. Towards certain types of electromagnetic radiation, their tolerance is a lot smaller. Albeit with time, even a few phones can weaken them if they're close enough. For this reason, it is forbidden to bring phones or other eletrical equipment here, to the Land of Dragons."

"Because of their intolerance, dragons had to avoid people and as humankind spread, they had less and less space to live on. At some time, they realised that only one of the two species can stay on the Earth. At that time, humans were stronger than the dragons, so fighting them was no option. The dragons searched desperately for a way to save themselves and once managed to create the first Travelling Amulets. Using them, the last remaining tribes escaped from Earth to a foreign land, which they named as the Land of Dragons."

"The leader of the dragons was an elderly dragon named Jormungandr. He had two children, Tiamat and Uranos, who were beginning to take over the tribes from him when they escaped. However, as they were assembling for the journey, humans found them. Desperate to let the others escape, Jormungandr fought the men and sacrificed himself for the others. Uranos was devastated by his father's death. Despite the warnings of everyone else, he returned to Earth multiple times to take revenge. Of course, this wasn't entirely welcomed by the humans and they put a considerable price on his head. More and more groups chased him, but still he returned, taking revenge in the fights and escaping to the Land of Dragons before he could be captured or killed."

"As many actions led by rage, Uranos's raiding was bound to result in catastrophe. A bigger bandit group, held together by the desire to chase him down, managed to capture him. Uranos tried to escape using his Travelling Amulet, but the men followed him through the tunnel. This way, the bandits arrived on the Land of Dragons. For a year or so, they tried to find their way back, but later, they found out that this was possible only with the amulets the dragons were wearing. The chase after Uranos which had been let go for some time was continued with renewed power. The men thought that Uranos tricked them, intentionally trapping them in the Land of Dragons. Thus enraged, they attacked the dragons and war began. Uranos finally realised the consequences of his actions and gave up himself to the men to try to stop the war. However, this wasn't enough, and the men countinued attacking the dragons. On one occassion, they succeeded in getting an amulet, but instead of escaping and never coming back, they only brought reinforcements. By the time the dragons managed to destroy their amulet, the men had a whole village in the Land of Dragons and had named themselves Devils."

"The war dragged on between the two groups. The dragons were stronger as individuals, but they weren't familiar with the workings of the human mind and thus were often caught unprepared. Tiamat saw that the situation wasn't acceptable and looked for a solution. She realised they needed human allies who would be able to help them in countering the strategy of the Devils. Stories say, Tiamat's favourite pastime was to open a tunnel to a random place on Earth with her Travelling Amulet, and observe the life of humans through her telescope. She even learned to understand some of their language."

"Once, she saw Nino Farina, driver of Alfa Romeo at that time, before one of the first Formula 1 races as he was planning the race strategy with his engineer. Tiamat was very satisfied. After all, they were doing exactly what she was looking for. The next day, she followed Farina with her telescope, and as he was walking home from the track, one of Tiamat's children, who wasn't conspiciously big yet, created a tunnel and kidnapped Nino Farina. As soon as they arrived back, he tossed an egg into Farina's hands and left him alone. As Tiamat expected, the baby dragon, Scylla, who hatched for Farina, could understand instictively what he said, and he also understood her. This way, Scylla became the translator between the dragons and Farina. Understandably, he was angry at first for kidnapping him but they managed to get to an agreement. It is said that there was some money involved, but that's just a rumour and it might not be true. The dragons improved the amulets so they could only take as many people with them as the number of hands on them when activated. After Nino Farina took an oath that he will never, under any circumstances, talk about or show the Land of Dragons or anything connected to it to anyone, the dragons gave him one of the new Travelling Amulets. This way, he could visit them anytime. Then he, Tiamat and Scylla started looking for other people who could be suitable dragonriders."

"Later, the first clash happened between the Dragonriders and the Devils. The Devils were stunned to see humans fighting on the dragons' side and they marked Farina and the other Dragonriders as traitors. Once, they managed to get a few new amulets. Luckily, they were even newer than Farina's and had the ability to destroy anything electrical or smoke-maker when it goes through the tunnel. Fortunately, the Devils are so greedy that they want the Land of Dragons and the Travelling Amulets only for themselves, so they keep the secret of this world hidden like us. The war still drags on, and the Dragonriders fight alongside the dragons against the Devils."

"So, that was the story of the Dragonriders," Lewis finished.

"Any questions?" Seb looked around. Charles was staring at the cave entrance, visibly deep in thought. Max was scanning the interior of the cave, looking at the shields and scabbards in the corner. Pierre was fiddling with his spoon, also thinking. Lando seemed like he was about to fall asleep. Carlos nudged him with his finger and the Brit sat up a little straighter.

"Do we get something for being Dragonriders?" Alex asked. He was stroking his dragon's back.

"The way Farina maybe got money, no. But you get at least one, but likely more friends in the form of your dragon and the other Dragonriders. Believe me, fighting back-to-back against the Devils is something that can create lifelong friendships." Seb replied.

"Also, the media cannot come here, so this is a place where you can get some real privacy if you need it. Of course, our families can't be here, but we're one big family, so it is still acceptable." Lewis added.

Lando yawned a big one. Seb smiled at him and stood up.

"I guess you are really tired. We will leave you to think until next morning." he said. "Come on, I will show you your room." he gestured to the tunnel entry at the back of the hall. 

"Seb, wait!" Lewis said. "Was someone injured when you where with the Devils?" he looked at the youngsters.

"Alex and Charles," Pierre replied. "And Max was touched by a huge white spider and his arm hurt, but it doesn't do now." he added, looking at Max for confirmation. The Dutchman nodded.

"All right. Then Alex and Charles, stay here with Lewis, he'll look at your injuries. The rest of you, come with me." Seb said.

Lewis? What does he know about injuries? Charles thought. He was tired and his wrist hurt badly. His thoughts were written on his face and Seb smiled.

"Lewis is almost as good of a doctor as of a race driver," he said. "We need someone who can treat injuries, because the Devils have real weapons."

That's quite logical, Charles thought.

Lewis stayed at the table with Charles and Alex, and Seb led the others to the tunnel leading away. Except Charles's and Alex's, all the dragons followed them. Lando's dragon climbed into his would-be rider's hood and quickly fell asleep.

Carlos yawned as he saw the little creature. I hope we don't have to sleep on the ground again, he thought.

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Hope you like it :)

Edited 14.04.2024