Dragon Dreams

Chapter 23: Fire and Ice (2/3)

I spent a few minutes answering the young dragon's questions about humans. Everything I told him seemed to leave him with a powerful sense of wonder that I found very amusing. Even things like grocery stores and malls seemed to him like they were straight out of legend. Although it occurred to me as I was telling him this that I wouldn't be going back to a mall anytime soon. That thought gave me pause, but Stolvir seemed too excited to notice.

"I never really believed all the things that Mom told me!" he exclaimed. "I thought she was tricking me because I didn't know any better. The few tsoävryn that I know like to tell unbelievable stories."

Stolvir and I conversed throughout the rest of the meal, which was mostly a constant stream of questions from him about humans and their society. He was absolutely fascinated by the types of technology they possessed. I realized that much had changed for humans even since the time Nyraz had joined the clan. For dragons, it seemed, change only happened over the course of millennia.

"You've gone your whole life and never been outside this area, right?" I asked him.

"Pretty much," he sighed. "I've visited other valleys and other clans with my family, but never too far away. There are so many unknown things in that vast world out there. Things that I'd love to discover and see for myself. Although I can't count on that happening; that's not how things seem to work around here."

Rofar leaned over to join the conversation. "You know why things are this way, Stolvir. The link between our world and the outside is delicate, and our place is here in the clan."

"I know, Dad," the young dragon said half-heartedly. "But sometimes it just feels like I'm trapped here. This valley, it's fine, but...I don't know. I feel like we deserve more freedom than this."

"That's enough," the blue dragon snapped, then his hard expression softened quickly. "You should be thankful for the freedom you do have."

Stolvir sighed and faked interest in some mushrooms on the table nearby, nibbling impassively on one of them. For a moment nothing was spoken. I thought about how he must have felt, and how I represented the outside world that was hidden from him. "I'm not about to blame him for being curious," I said to myself, knowing at the same time that Rofar was right. The same things that forced me into hiding ensured that Stolvir would have to accept his own limits as well—I knew that most humans did not take kindly to outsiders. Thinking of Jackie and Wes, I knew I had found two exceptions to that norm.

I wanted to show the young dragon some understanding, saying softly, "You know I'll still try to answer any questions you have about things..."

My voice trailed off as I saw a large shape moving in the periphery. A rather stout, burgundy-colored dragon ambled up and stopped just a couple steps away from me. "I know you're still getting settled in, and I don't want to step on your tail," the dragon expressed apologetically. "But I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Valtor, and Rofar is a good friend of mine." He bowed his head in greeting, which I returned.

"Ayreth," I replied, starting to habitually refer to myself by that name. "It's nice to meet you."

Valtor gave a sort of cheerful rumble. He had a deep, rich voice which complemented his affable demeanor. "Very nice to meet you, Ayreth. Well, I hope you are enjoying the food. I'm the head of agriculture in this clan, so anything that grows in the earth is my responsibility. And Stolvir here is my student." He gave the young dragon a nudge with his wing before looking back at me with irises of liquid bronze. "You've got a good master in Rofar, I have to say. He's got his horns on straight, real good spirit. Anyway, I've interrupted long enough. Please enjoy the feast, my friend. And welcome."

"Thank you very much." I replied and dipped my head once more as Valtor moved back down the table to take his seat again.

More dragons followed Valtor's lead in making introductions. Over the course of the feast, I met a number of other villagers. It seemed like some of the more curious adult dragons, a few accompanied by young, equally curious hatchlings, were more than happy to simply walk over and strike up a conversation with me. They always proudly told me about their role in the clan. I spoke to a huntress, a stone carver, and an architect, to name a few.

Looking around after a while, I could see the darkened sky outside through the high windows. The food was almost gone, and most of the dragons, myself included, seemed rather full but merry. The conversations had become slightly more raucous, and bursts of laughter echoed through the hall with increasing frequency. I was starting to loosen up as well. Nyraz was just finishing up a funny story about how she almost set fire to the village on her first visit when Uldor's roar imposed silence on the hall.

The white dragon looked downright gleeful, a stark contrast to the intimidating reserve I had witnessed previously. "Friends, please join me outside as we continue this celebration around a fire. Night has fallen, and it is time to let the whole valley resound with our festivities!"

A swelling sound of shifting bodies rose up in the hall as all those present got to their feet. I saw a few dragons head for the instruments along the wall. Turning around, I saw Rofar already opening one of the gigantic doors, throwing a red shaft of illumination across the floor. Uldor's words had prepared me for a fire, but not one of the magnitude I saw revealed in the center of the clearing.

When both doors were thrown wide, I got a proper view of the bonfire outside. The blaze was fed by a massive stack of logs built up in layers that reached twenty feet high. The peaks of the dancing flames reached almost twice that height. I took a moment to wonder who had been out there the whole time building this bonfire.

The answer was made clear almost immediately. As I followed Rofar and Nyraz in a circle around the clearing, I saw something beyond the flames. Not something, someone. A dragon stood next to the fire, becoming more sharply defined as I moved closer. The stranger looked rather small and wiry, and I knew by her build that she was female. But nothing about this dragon looked like any of the others.

Her age was impossible to guess, it could have been anywhere between Rofar's middle-age to something approaching Uldor's advanced years. She had jet black scales and claws, so deeply black that they appeared to swallow the light of the fire. An array of smaller horns and spikes jutted out from her sleek body, especially on her head, all as black as her scales. I also took in the multitude of necklaces and jewelry on her body, which I hadn't seen before on any others. There was even a gold crescent-shaped piercing through her nose. Even more than that, the thing that caught my gaze the most were the gold markings traced across her face and down her neck, sides, and wings. There was only one other dragon I had seen who bore these markings.

Ares.

Rofar leaned in to whisper to me before I could process any of this further. "This is Eysri. She is our shaman and also a storyteller of sorts."

"A shaman?" I hadn't heard any of the dragons speak to me on this subject.

"I'll let her explain to you later. Now, I think she's going to give us a story."

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