For Her Honour

Part 4

I spent the afternoon rummaging through Maluth's collection of stolen goods. The dragons played in the protected area, enjoying the freedom and safety that came with it. Maluth was with them, creating spells of their favoured food, the renjic. It was a bird that hung around castles, scavenging off the scraps that were thrown out.

I looked up from the trunk, Maluth was watching the dragons with his hands clasped behind his back. They were growing faster than I'd expected. Perhaps a year wasn't as necessary as Maluth thought it would be.

It looked like Sapphire had doubled in size, avidly chomping the birds that darted around him and his sisters.

"Maluth?"

"Yes, Caliphe."

"Are those standard renjic birds or are they infused with a growth spell?"

I stood, looking at the subdued smile.

"Is that wise?"

"Yes, it is. Not just for the situation but for their own wellbeing. They need to be strong. Without their mother to protect them, they are vulnerable. Moving their growth forward is the only way to get them past this stage without her help. Besides, you will need to walk into your town, and they will be with you. You cannot do that when they are young and small, and I fear that time is not on your side. This will not harm them Caliphe, do not worry about them."

His head turned, looking at the helmet I'd found. It was majestic, a dragon for a comb.

"How appropriate."

"I thought so."

"There are many more pieces to that suit in there."

"Was this from my castle or somewhere else?"

He smiled, looking at it fondly.

"It was one of the first few pieces that I'd scavenged from that place. The dragon had been gone for a few hours, I suspect that she might have been searching for a mate because she had spent many days flying a broad area. As for this particular fellow, he'd made the mistake of announcing his arrival far too loudly. Perhaps he believed that she was still away from the castle, perhaps he was just a fool. He trumpeted a horn at the drawbridge, and she appeared out of nowhere and went chomp, chomp. Spat the pieces out of armour out and took off. I brought them back, banged a few pieces back into shape and tossed it into the pile to sell. I don't know why it's still here. Perhaps it was fate that you were meant to have it Caliphe. The first owner may have been a fool, but that doesn't mean the next one will be."

Maluth lifted it from my hands and put it on my head, still smiling fondly.

"And a good fit too. Definitely fate."

He turned back, watching as another wave of rejic swooped through the area. Stands and poles had been created for the dragons to land on but the area itself remained the same. Maluth could not extend it any further than what it was.

"Perhaps a little training for the dragons. You must be able to control them. Start with basic commands as you are and then put the helmet on. You do not want to be removing it every time you need to tell them to do something. I will search for the rest of the armour."

"Are you going to stop the birds?"

"No, they need to learn how to ignore them when you command their attention."

This was a seemingly difficult task but one that I would do without complaint. I'd gotten through to Mama Red, we weren't always effective communicators, but there were a few basic things that helped us understand each other. I would start with that.

The first one was a basic whistle that I used to call Red. Each of the babies looked at me instantly, and I momentarily wondered if Red had taught them a few things when they were in the roost.

Stepping back, I whistled and at the tail end, I changed it while looking at Sapphire. For each of them, they'd get their own call sign. He looked at me without flinching, so I patted my thighs while repeating the whistle.

The girls followed him, so I held my hand up while creating a whistle for them. They didn't understand me and the three of them huddled around my legs. With a deep intake of air, I sighed and closed my eyes. This was not a setback, this was learning.

"Okay guys, back to your spots and we will try again."

It was going to be a long road, but it would be worth it, I would do it for justice, for Mama Red. I will make that arrogant fool suffer.