Shadow's Rising {Wing 4} Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dragons at Dain's Domicile 

Shadow’s face paled as much as his dark scales would allow. I’m going to die? Wait. What about the cure? “You said there was a cure, right? How do I get that?”

Dain rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“What’s going on?” Tempest asked impatiently, but Shadow held up his hand to hush her. With a huff she sat down rubbing the cut on her shoulder.

“There may be a cure nearby but I’m not certain of its exact location,” Dain explained. “The eggs of a Fire Falcon have been used as a high grade antidote by the academy for years. The only problem is that Fire Falcons get their name from the flame that surrounds them due to the speed at which they dive.

“If it is defending its nest, the bird monster will not hesitate to attack even a dragon, and if any of your friends get hit it could kill them. They will also need to grab an unfertilized egg or the cure won’t work.”

Shadow nodded and relayed the information to the other dragonets. They were all concerned and worried upon hearing about the potentially fatal poison that was now circulating through Shadow’s body.

“If you want to stay at my home, it would be much safer than this cave. I can also show you the general location of the Fire Falcon’s habitat. I have a map of the mountains so it shouldn’t be too difficult,” Dain offered.

Shadow translated Dain’s words and most of the dragonets nodded but Tempest stomped in protest.

“Weren’t you all listening to me earlier? I still don’t trust this human. What if he is just leading us into a trap?”

Shadow shook his head. “I know you don’t trust him Tempest, but I know he has good intentions. I will give him some of my hatchling scales as compensation so he shouldn’t try anything. Besides, if you’re so worried you can stay with me and rest while the others look for the Fire Falcon.”

Aurora quickly agreed while glancing at the wound on Tempest’s shoulder. “Please let us do this Tempest. We can find Shadow’s cure ourselves this time. You need to let your shoulder heal.” I have to show her that I can take care of myself too.

Tempest growled and tried to move her arm to prove she was fine but winced as the injury stretched painfully. Sighing in defeat she relented.

“Fine. I’ll babysit Shadow while you guys find the cure,” she grumbled. Then she glanced at Dain with a distrustful look. If he tries anything I’ll make sure he regrets it.

Shadow smiled nervously. It wasn’t exactly the outcome he was hoping for but at least they were going in the right direction.

“We will gratefully accept your offer Dain. Please lead the way,” Shadow gestured to the cave entrance as he painfully rose to his feet.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” both Asrial and Aurora asked. Shadow chuckled.

Looking at Aurora he spoke in dragon, “I’m fine.” At the same time, he pet Asrial on the head reassuringly.

“Hey! I get it ok. You’re a big tough dragon,” Asrial mumbled, while blushing in embarrassment as she removed Shadow’s talon.

“Alright,” Aurora replied moving to grab Shadow’s pack. “I’ll get your things.”

Shadow thanked her and went to move forward but Boulder stopped him. “I’ll help you. Just let me carry you to the human’s den.”

Shadow was going to protest, but he could see the determination in Boulder’s mind to help him, so he didn’t bother.

Asrial and Dain were walking towards the entrance when Hailstorm and Gale suddenly picked them up. They both cried out in fright at first, but Asrial quickly calmed down. Boulder called on his strengthening magic and heaved Shadow into the sky, quickly followed by Tempest and Aurora.

“Where do we go from here?” Shadow called to Dain once they were close enough. His question piercing the panicked mind of Dain and helping him calm down as he focused on the task in front of him.

He pointed out the direction to go and the dragonets all followed his gestures. Soon they had reached the next valley, and Shadow spotted a small clearing far back in the woods where a small house had been neatly constructed. There was also a small building behind the main house with a big stack of chopped wood next to it.

The dragonets landed in the clearing just in front of Dain’s house. Dain was a bit wobbly on his feet for the first few steps but quickly regained his composure. Shadow assumed it must be a side effect of his first flight, seeing as how Asrial had to drop to her knees to regain her balance after being set down.

Shadow also limped a bit as he was dropped off, due to the pain in his shoulder. He had noticed on the flight that it didn’t hurt much, so long as he didn’t move his neck and shoulder quickly.

The other dragonets were curiously and cautiously looking around the clearing. The place smelled of freshly cut wood and smoke with a metal tang to it. Hailstorm approached Dain’s house, but Dain quickly hurried to stop him.

“Please don’t try to go inside! You will crush the door and all my hand-crafted furniture.”

Hailstorm stopped and regarded Dain with a puzzled expression before looking at Shadow.

“He is worried that you might break his house if you try going inside, so he is kindly asking you not to do that,” Shadow explained.

Hailstorm’s eyes widened in understanding, and he smiled kindly at Dain showing off his sharp teeth. “Don’t worry. I was just curious to see what a human den looked like.”

Dain still seemed a bit nervous. He calmed down a little when Hailstorm moved away from his home, but he still seemed anxious. Shadow couldn’t really blame him though. Having six dragons, even as small as they were, around his house must have been more than a little nerve wracking.

Boulder walked alongside Shadow and looked around the Dain’s home. Does this human even have a place we can stay?

Shadow was about to ask Dain about that, but his chaotic thoughts had made him pause. Dain was feeling overwhelmed now the reality of having dragons come to his home set in.

“Um, Dain? Do you have a place where we can stay?” Shadow asked, trying to be as gentle as he could. Dain’s thoughts all paused as he realised that he did not, in fact, have a place for them to stay.

“Well, I… I suppose I just thought you could find a spot in the trees nearby and…” I guess I assumed you didn’t use houses just like any other animal. What do I do now?

“We can find a sheltered spot under some trees if you don’t have something, but a cave would be better,” Shadow suggested.

Dain’s face brightened. Yes!

“There is a cave nearby. Here, I’ll show you.”

Dain lead the way, and Shadow called the other dragonets to follow. The cave was carved into the side of a nearby cliff and, though not too deep, was dry and warm enough. There were a number of tools and scraps shoved in the back of the cave. Shadow didn’t explore much and laid down against the rough wall of the cave to ease the pain in his shoulder.

Dain rummaged through the pile at the back and returned with an old tunic that had certainly seen better days. He washed out the wound with water from a leather waterskin and wrapped the makeshift bandage as best he could around the wound.

“Thanks,” Shadow sighed gratefully, but Dain waved it off.

“Eh. Don’t mention it. I almost left you for dead so it’s the least I could do. Speaking of favors… You mentioned having a friend in Dragon Rider Academy. What was his name?”

“Jarid Drakoulis.”

“Hmm. I think I may know of him. He was in Black Squad if I recall correctly. I’ll ask about him next time they come to collect my equipment. There are a few pieces due for pick up in a few days. They usually send a dragon rider to pick it up, so I’ll get them to deliver a message to Jarid that I need him to come here urgently. Is that acceptable Night Wing?”

“Yes, that most certainly is! Please just call me Shadow.” Shadow smiled excitedly. This was perfect! He would get to see Jarid without putting anyone in danger.

Dain nodded. “Good. I’ll go get a map so I can show your friends where the Fire Falcon nesting grounds are.”

The dragonets finished checking out the cave, and didn’t understand what most of it was so they just left it there. When Dain returned with the map they all looked at the location of the Dain’s home on the map. He then showed them the location of the Fire Falcon’s nesting ground. It was almost a week’s flight away and covered a vast area.

Unfortunately, it was starting to get late, and the sun would soon disappear behind the mountains. After a brief discussion, they all decided to wait until the next day to begin searching for the nests.

The next morning Shadow woke with his heart racing and talons trembling. He couldn’t remember the nightmare that had caused him to wake but he knew how it had ended. With everything consumed by fire.

The others were already up and discussing how they would split up to search for the Fire Falcon nest. Aurora noticed he was awake and left the group to speak with Shadow. He got to his feet feeling a bit groggy but otherwise ok. The bite was still sore, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.

“We’re going to be leaving soon. I hope you’ll be ok waiting for us.”

Shadow smiled to himself. I’ve been alone far longer than this before. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. Besides, Tempest will keep me company,” he replied cheerfully. Aurora smiled back before embracing him gently.

“We will return soon. Stay safe, ok?”

Shadow nodded and Aurora let go. Shadow still felt awkward being hugged by another dragon, but it was nice too, so he didn’t protest. The others were waiting for Aurora outside the cave. Shadow waved to them all. Everyone except Tempest waved back as they took off.

Tempest sighed and walked back into the cave to lay down and sulk. Shadow could tell the sword wound on her shoulder was still bothering her. He was surprised by how much being left behind had irked her. Then he had an idea.

“Tempest?”

“What?” Tempest growled as her sulking was interrupted.

“Why don’t you let Dain bandage your wound like he did for me? Maybe then it will heal faster, and you can join the others.”

“Ha. Do you think I’d let that human touch me? I know you’ve been around them all your life, but I haven’t lost my pride as a dragon quite yet.”

Does he really think I’d let a prey touch me? I have no idea what he might do. Humans won’t hesitate to kill a dragon. How does he still trust this one after just meeting all those humans with the sharp metal sticks. They attacked the moment we landed. I barely protected the others long enough.

Shadow didn’t want to hear more of her thoughts, so he decided to go out and explore. He took along his pack in case he ran into Dain. As he walked around, he thought about what Tempest had meant by losing her pride as a dragon. He had never thought about being proud that he was a dragon. It wasn’t like he had done anything to become one, so it didn’t make much sense to him.

Shadow’s thoughts were interrupted by a feint clanging sound. He recognised it from the few times he had snuck close enough to Jarid’s house that he could hear Simon working. It was the sound of metal striking metal. Shadow felt a wave of both nostalgia and curiosity as he followed the sound.

He found that the sound was coming from the small building behind Dain’s house. There was also a red glow flickering in one of the open doorways. As he poked his head in, a wave of heat encompassed his sensitive nose and ears, along with the smell of burning metal and sweat.

Dain stood over a large block of metal and was banging something on it. Every few swings he would adjust whatever it was. After a few minutes of this he stepped back, wiping the sweat from his brow and breathing heavily.

“What are you doing?” Shadow asked curiously.

Dain jumped and dropped his hammer. The hammer landed on his foot causing him to yelp in pain and hop around on his other foot. He then tripped on the hammer’s handle and landed on a pile of shields with a crash.

Shadow cringed and felt terrible for startling Dain. Looking up at the door Dain let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the dragon.

“Oh. It’s you. Sorry about that. I was so caught up in my work I forgot you were here.”

“No. I’m sorry for startling you,” Shadow replied sheepishly.

“Well? What are you here about?”

Shadow opened his pack and took out the armor Jarid had fashioned out of his scales, along with all the extra scales that had been left over.

“I forgot to give you these yesterday, so I decided to bring them over now.”

Dain’s eyes widened as he crawled over to look at the armor and scales.

“This is incredible!” he exclaimed while sorting through the items. “I was simply hoping for a few scales to build a helmet or even just a gauntlet, but this should be enough for an entire flight suite! And just look at this armor! It may be a little rough, but the foundations are sound. Did your human friend make this?”

“Yes. His father was a black smith, and he always dreamed of having a full set of armor made from my scales. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring this to dragon rider academy. For obvious reasons.”

Dain nodded. “Of course… Hmmm. You said his name was… Jarid Drakoulis?”

Shadow confirmed. Dain smiled. “Well then. Why don’t I help him make the armor of his dreams? I happen to have his measurements from the commissioned set I made for him earlier, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to craft a new set for him. Though, I may have to make some adjustments to the armor already present while completely restructuring other parts. Would that be acceptable?”

Shadow could already picture Jarid enthusiastically jumping up and down with excitement at the idea of getting his armor personally improved by a real armor smith.

“I think he would find that more than acceptable.”

Dain excitedly reached out for the scales, his mind already imagining how the armor would come together and what kinds of adjustments he’d have to make. Then he stopped himself. Glancing back at his unfinished work on the anvil, a pained expression formed on his face.

“Urrgh. Just give me a few minutes,” he said hurriedly as he rushed over and picked up his hammer. He worked at a feverish pace. Hammering out the metal studs in the studded leather armor with little regard for polish or wasted energy.

From what Shadow knew about being a black smith, Dain’s speed was quite impressive. He was able to finish half of an entire breastplate in under half an hour. Dain barely paused as he set the breastplate aside and eagerly grabbed the armor Jarid had made from Shadow’s talons. He took a moment to admire the work that had gone into it and mentally marking down all the improvements he was going to make. Then he got straight into working on it.

Shadow watched Dain work for most of the day and basked in the compliments Dain gave for Jarid’s work. Both those muttered aloud and simply thought in his head. Shadow was so proud that his brother’s work was being praised by a professional that it made him feel all warm inside.

The next week flew by. Shadow spent most of his time watching Dain work while Tempest rested or hunted. Shadow wanted to help but after the third day he was too weak to fly long enough for hunting. A dragon rider had come to pick up the delivery and Dain kept his promise. Shadow listened in (at Tempest’s insistence) just to be sure that Dain didn’t try to sell them out to the academy. But all he said was that Jarid Drakoulis of Black Squad needed to come see him about an urgent matter. A few days later, they received the response.

Shadow had just about fallen asleep when he heard footsteps in the distance and felt the thoughts of a human approaching the cave. No. Two humans.

One he recognised as Dain but the other he didn’t know. Their mind felt tough, strong and hot. Yet deeper than that there was a pride and familial care hidden beneath.

Shadow mentally checked that Tempest was asleep next to him. Her calm and quiet mind was a sure sign the approaching conversation hadn’t woken her up yet. Now Shadow could make out what they were saying.

“…are almost there. These people are friends of Jarid though I’m not sure if they will be willing to meet with you,” Dain’s voice continued.

“Well, Jarid is unavailable right now, and I’m one of his closest friends at the academy anyway. If they need help I will aid them of course, and if they need to inform him of something I will pass it on. There are no secrets between us so I doubt they have anything to say that he wouldn’t want me to hear,” a feminine yet tomboyish voice replied.

“Let’s just have you call out to them from here. If they choose not to reveal themselves simply take it as a sign of their refusal to speak with you,” Dain offered.

Shadow opened his eyes just enough to make out Dain holding a torch at the entrance to the cave with a young girl standing next to him. The torchlight only illuminated about one wingspan of the cave and left most of it (including Shadow and Tempest) in darkness.

The girl stood with her hands on her hips and spoke boldly into the darkness of the cave. “I have come in response to the summons you made for Jarid Drakoulis. He is elsewhere presently so I will aid you in his stead. My name is Airel Brineberg.”