The 'Dragon Master'

A Visit To Valka

I make it to Valka's Sanctuary in record time. Harmony lands, tired from the day's events. I pet her. "Just a few more minutes and you can rest up, girl," I tell her. She rawks sluggishly as she walks in. It's not long until Valka's slender form approaches.

"Sorry I'm late, there were a few... setbacks," I tell her. She nods. "Not a problem. Come, come."

Harmony follows her through the sanctuary that is much bigger than mine until we reach the small meeting area Valka has in her living space. Well, it's probably where she goes when she needs her alone time, but to me it's the office or meeting area or whatever.

I slide off of Harmony carefully and she helps me sit down on a beautifully carved wooden chair. "Is something wrong with your foot?" Valka asks me, noticing this. "The worst it is is a nasty sprain, nothing I can't handle with a little help from my girl," I reply, stroking Harmony in thanks. "You rest up, I'll let you know when we're leaving." She nods and curls up in the corner, snoring quietly within moments.

"So what exactly happened?" Valka asks. "And who is the hatchling?" I look down at little Valkyrie, who is peeking out from my arms at Valka with wide eyes filled with curiosity. "She's a rescue," I say. "Her name is Valkyrie."

Valka nods. "Lovely name for a lovely beast. So what else happened?"

"I was asked by some future chief to relocate a Death Song from their island," I answer. "After that they kidnapped me back to their island because they caught me asleep and thought a Slitherwing had got to me. Harmony freaked out on them and that's how I got hurt."

She pulls her much more elaborate mask off and I pull off mine. It's a sign of respect between each other. She's the only one to ever see behind this mask in years and to be honest I really do enjoy keeping it this way.

"I see," she nods, her brown hair bouncing very slightly. "Prop your foot up, I'll take a look at it." "You don't have to, I wouldn't want to ruin what's left of our visit over something I can sort out myself later," I reply, but she's already pulling a desk closer and pulling my foot onto it. I wince slightly at the movement.

She carefully removes my boot and inspects my foot. My ankle is red and swollen. Great. "You were right, a nasty sprain," she confirms. "Just keep off of it for a while. I'm sure your dragons can handle everything back in your sanctuary if you're only willing to let them try."

"It's nothing to do with not trusting them, it just feels like taking advantage of them," I admit. "I mean, I sit on their backs for long periods of time, I order them around constantly, I get them to do a lot of things around the place as it is... I feel like I'm using them sometimes. Taking advantage of them."

"You're only taking advantage of them if you're forcing them to do things they object to, if they willingly follow you that's their own loyalty talking and if they're not happy then it automatically becomes their own issue. You can't always make them all happy, but from what I've seen around there you're doing an exceptional job so far."

I nod. She's not a woman of few words - though she isn't exactly the most talkative either - but she is a woman of wise ones. I can always count on Valka to put things into a clearer perspective, I see her a lot as a mother figure. Her motherly instincts are a perfect full-in for my real mother.

She pulls some gauze from a cabinet and wraps it around my ankle. "I'd say about two weeks bed rest and you'll be right as rain," she smiles. "If you really want, I could come over to your sanctuary and help to keep things running steady while you're getting that sorted."

"That's ridiculous, you have your own sanctuary to run and defend," I reply. "You can't just drop everything for two weeks just to help out a little!"

"Fine," she chuckles. "But if I catch word that you've been up and around, you're going to have to deal with me."

"You won't, you don't have to send any spies in," I joke humourlessly. She did that once. Her Terrible Terror still creeps me out a little, to be honest. It saw... too much... but I can't for the life of me catch that thing so I can erase its memory. It likes to taunt me nowadays.

"So what's been going on over here? Anything new?"

We talk for a while about different things that have been happening since the last time we met up like this. I told her about Volcana's newly hatched youngsters and she informs me about a large raid she pulled off on a dragon hunter base. She freed several dragons from the clutches of those awful excuses of human beings.

Eventually day turns to night and Valka is helping me up onto Harmony. "Remember to take it easy, the dragons can handle themselves for a few days," she tells me as she walks me out.

I nod. "Please don't send the Terror. I am not interested in embarrassing myself again." At that she laughs and nods. We've both agreed that sending dragons out like that isn't a good idea due to what happened between me and that Terror.

I pull up my mask once I'm out of there. I already can't wait for the next moon cycle to occur so I can see Valka again. She's a lovely person.

From where Valka has her sanctuary my island isn't too far and the prospect of sleeping in my comfortable bed again tonight sounds more than welcoming, so Harmony and I eagerly chase the clouds to our home sweet home.