The Titan and the dragonriders

18. ghosts of the past

After some time John cleared his throat loudly and slowly stood up, while Feyth hurriedly jumped out of his lap in order not to hinder the soldier. When he got up, he picked up his helmet from the ground and sat it on his head again at the same time, so that the Atlas sealed itself again with a soft hiss. Turning to Feyth, he said: "I think that we should join the other shots. There's no point in just sitting here." *Will you tell Keno about it? she replied with a reserved voice, but to her relief he shook his head briefly. "No. Why should I? It's your business who you tell that to. Besides, I haven't known Keno long enough to be able to judge him properly," John explained and received a sceptical look from Feyth in reply. *And me? The soldier shrugged his shoulders, which the atlas made seem very expansive. "Instinct." he replied, walking past her in the direction of Lyath's chamber.

That was the truth. He knew Feyth only as long as Keno, but he felt much more sympathy for her than for the human boy. Probably because she was an outsider just like he was. Although on a different level than John himself, she was also despised by most of her conspecifics. Just because she was different. He clenched his hand to his fist involuntarily, but forced his body to relax again when he felt the little dragon girl had jumped on his back. The soldier looked to the right and saw how she had clung to his shoulder and put her head on it. A smile spread across his face and he turned his gaze forward again. With big steps, he stepped through the short cave passage, which connected the entrance area with the main chamber and when he finally came around the curve, the glow of a reddish fire received him.

Lyath lay, as he had already suspected, in her nest and watched Keno and Dekri. The Dragon Rider had sat down on one of the stalagmites lying around, which lay near the great fire, and chewed on a piece of dried meat that he had apparently rummaged out of her storage bag. The young dragon on the other hand sat directly in front of the fire and stared into the blazing red flames as if they were a beautiful painting that had to be seen. John thought nothing of it at first and also looked at the flames for a brief moment when something strange struck him.

Two roundish objects, each about the size of a medicine ball, were in the midst of the flames. On closer inspection, he could see that the objects had a relatively dark coloration, which was interspersed with lighter veins. John looked from the objects to Dekri and finally to Lyath. He counted one and one together. 'These must be the rest of Lyath's eggs from which Dekri hatched.' Fascinated, he kept an eye on the dragon's eggs as he walked over to Lyath and sat down next to them on the floor.

*And how did Feyth's first training hunter go? sounded a cheerful sounding voice in his head and the big red dragon lady shifted her head so that her right eye could look directly at John. Still looking into the fire, the soldier answered whispering: "You know that as well as I do Lyath. Feyth knows everything she needs to know." He felt the little dragon glide off his shoulder, and then he thought meekly: *I'll leave you two alone. I still have to apologize to Keno * With quick steps she moved away from John and Lyath and jumped into Keno's lap, who watched her behaviour skeptically. Without hesitation, Titan said seriously, "You knew she couldn't fight." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Finally he turned his gaze away from the eggs and looked the dragon lady directly in the eye. A kind of sigh seemed to emanate from her when she asked: *Are you mad at me? John shook his head lightly. "No. I know what it means to keep a secret. But why did you let me try to train her in the first place?" *Because I had faith in you. She just answered and winked at him. He put his head slightly at an angle. "Trust? I could have seriously hurt Feyth if I had forced her to bite me or hit me." *But you didn't. "Of course you didn't!" *John stared at her thoughtfully for a few moments until he understood her motive. "That's what you meant by finding out for yourselves," he said, somewhat surprised, and heard an amused giggle in response. *It's part of it, yeah. Thoughtfully, Titan crossed his arms in front of his chest and hooked on, "And you still won't tell me exactly what you mean by that?" Lyath winked at him again. *Like I said, this is something you need to figure out for yourself. It wouldn't matter if I told you now. She said friendly, but serious. John tilted his head slightly downwards and mumbled, "I see."