The Blue Blaze: Chapter 6

It was supposed to be winter, but if anything, the air felt a little chilly on my scales, and there was not a single pile of snow in sight. The city was built to accommodate the dragons along with the fae; the streets were as wide as a freeway, making it comfortable for several dragons to walk around. Buildings were built with doors large enough for what seemed to be the average dragon to walk through, and the buildings themselves were massive as well, so the dragons were comfortable. The city reminded me of the saying, “Everything’s bigger in Texas”, except everything was actually bigger. Some buildings were tall, though I wouldn’t say they were sky scraper tall like New York’s Empire State Building, not even taller than Washington’s Space Needle, but they were definitely taller than an average human’s two-story house. A massive wall surrounded the whole city, though I couldn’t see what was on top very well.
“So, the city is named after the country?” I asked.
Paetra nodded. “Yeah, Dragonfell City is the capital.”
“But why’s it called ‘Dragonfell’? Sounds a little antagonizing to the dragons.”
“Well, the fae and dragons used to be at odds with each other some time ago, but we’re past that now.”
Antania piped up, “We just thought it would be too much of a hassle to change the name of the country and the capital, ‘we’ being us and the dragons. So we just stuck with it.”
“So,” started Paetra, “Where did you grow up? Was it in Dragonfell City?”
Crap! I thought I can’t just tell her I’m from Earth or anything like that. Do they even know what Earth is? “Uh, from the southern outskirts of the country.”
“You mean, like near Shasta? I hear that Beowulf always raids the areas surrounding the place.”
Beowulf? I wondered, “Uh, yeah, around there.”
“Wait, was it Beowulf that tore up your wings?” Her eyes widened as she looked at me.
“Oh, no. I just fell into a canopy of trees, and the branches tore them up.”
“Let me guess, that human was one of Beowulf’s younger guys, too?” Antania squinted her eyes.
“Keith? No, he’s my friend.”
Paetra narrowed her eyes and whispered, “Your friends with a human?”
“Is that so wrong?”
“The only humans near Dragonfell are The Arms of Beowulf. Are you sure he’s not like an undercover dragonslayer, some kind of spy?”
“Yeah, I think I would have noticed something like that since I basically grew up with him. He’s like a brother to me.”
Antania and Paetra furrowed their brow as if they couldn’t grasp the concept of a dragon being friends with a human.
“Do you really think that all humans are bloodthirsty dragonslayers?”
“Well,” Antania crossed her arms, “Every experience we’ve had with humans, they’ve always been Beowulf’s men, and usually tried to kill not only dragons but the fae kind too. They even killed our Blaze in a battle some fourteen years ago.”
It was my time to be confused. “Your… Blaze?”
“How do you not know that?” She rolled her eyes.
“Must’ve hit my head in the fall. Can you jog my memory?”
Antania sighed and was about to start, but Paetra cut her off. “The Blaze is the highest military rank a dragon can achieve, second only to the king himself. The Golden Blaze was probably one of the best we ever had regarding the Blaze line. He was pretty close to Elder Suirauqa; I heard he died trying to save him.”
Interesting… “Why was he called the “Golden Blaze” and not just “Blaze”?”
“Because he wore gilded armor during battle. His scales were red, but he liked the idea of being called the ‘Golden Blaze’ instead of the ‘Red Blaze’ it sounded a little redundant, apparently.”
Well, that’s a fair explanation, but it's a little on the nose.
“So is there a specific place you’d like to go?” Paetra looked at me.
“Uh, not really, I guess. Maybe the places that people go to the most or any landmarks.”
“Alright, there’s a couple.” She nodded.
Paetra and Antania took me through the markets. It was a shock to me. I knew I didn’t expect a large department store like Walmart, but it looked more like a farmers market or outdoor swapmeet.
“Venison! Get your venison here! Fresh from the woods!” Shouted a vendor.
“Try our new fruity eclairs! They’re freshly filled with exotic berries from the Northern region!” Another vendor announced. The smell of the eclairs was incredible. It was as if the scent was just begging me to have a bite. Though it probably wasn’t the best idea for my recovery. I looked at Paetra, and she couldn’t not look. I guess she liked her sweets. Then I smelled an almost earthy scent coming from another stand. The place had all kinds of beans on it, some of which looked almost exactly like coffee beans. I grimaced.
Antania chuckled. “Not a big fan of coffee, huh?”
I shook my head. “Sometimes it smells sweet, almost like caramel, and sometimes it smells earthy, but in the end, it always tastes horribly bitter.
She shrugged. “It can have a strong taste. I don’t care for it much either; I prefer that stuff when you grind up the green tea leaves and make something out of that. Does your… friend… drink coffee?”
Matcha? I thought, “He likes it okay, though he doesn’t like it when it’s black as night.”
“That’s pretty much what everyone drinks here regarding coffee, dragons and fae alike. They’d look at you funny if you tried adding some kind of sweetener.”
The whole marketplace was noisy, with vendors shouting, but not loud enough that I couldn’t hear people talking. As I looked at the stalls and people exchanging their coins, I noticed something strange. While some used some kind of coin-like currency, some gave things like what looked like business cards or even expensive-looking jewelry. “You can barter here?” I said without thinking.
Paetra looked at me strangely. “...Yeah? Is that not common where you’re from?”
“Not particularly where I’m from. A lot of the time they want you to use currency only; you also can’t talk down the price.”
“Weird… Using both currency and the bartering system is the norm around here.”
We managed to walk out the marketplace areas, though Paetra couldn’t stop looking at the dessert stalls.
“Paetra, if you wanted one so badly, you should’ve gotten one.” Antania sighed.
“Maybe, but then I would’ve been obligated to buy some for all of us.” Paetra paused. “That came out wrong. I mean that since Ethan is still recovering, a pastry won’t help much with his healing.”
“It’s alright,” I assured. “I don’t eat sweets very often anyway. I prefer something a little more savory and salty. Besides, I’m still full from what Sui- err, Elder? Suiraqua gave me.” Having to use formal language was always a pain. I tried to avoid it as much as possible, though I guess that was the culture in Dragonfell, to be more formal and respectful towards those much older than you.
After some more walking, we stopped at a 30-foot stone statue of an armored dragon. Its striking eyes nearly paralyzed me when I looked into them. It was like the Mona Lisa; it always seemed to stare at you wherever you walked. It also looked strangely familiar, though I couldn’t put my finger, or I guess I should say, claw, on it. “What’s this?” I asked.
Paetra looked at the statue “This is The Golden Blaze or at least a close likeness of him.”
“Wow. He really must’ve been one of the best if you built a statue of the guy.”
“ If an old dragon or fae was struggling to walk somewhere, he would always be there to support them until they reached their destination, or if he saw that someone’s yard was dirty, he volunteered to clean it up. If there was something he couldn’t do to help, he always found someone who could. He would constantly have gifts at his doorstep.”
“Sounds like he was a swell guy.”
Antania nodded, “When it came to battle, he always fought alongside the soldiers, usually at the front lines, and he barely took prisoners. He climbed the ranks pretty quickly, and next thing you know, he was awarded the title. There was no battle he didn’t win when he was the one strategizing.”
Paetra looked down. “And then he lost his life… The battle was still won, obviously. Or the capital wouldn’t exist, but it came at a horrible price. Elder Suirauqa couldn’t take losing him, so he retired from the service early. When Beowulf attacks now, we’ve barely scraped by, with lots of injured and huge losses most of the time.”
“Geez…” I sighed. “Are there any candidates for the next Blaze?”
Paetra shook her head. “No… A dragon must show huge potential or do some kind of great feat to earn the honor. He showed promise by rising through the ranks, courage in battle, and helping others as much as possible.”
That’s a little vague… How do you define a “great feat”? Or “huge potential,” I wondered.
“There were times when he was just gone though.” Said Paetra.
“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’?”
“Like, he was just gone now and then and showed up out of the blue when the king called on him. You wouldn’t be able to find him at all in Dragonfell.”
“That’s weird…” I thought out loud, “No one ever asked him where he went?”
“They asked him, sure, but he always gave vague answers as if he was hiding something. When Elder Suirauqa was asked, he gave similar answers, too.”
“Do you really think The Golden Blaze was hiding something?” I asked.
“Maybe… I’m sure it wasn’t anything horrible, though.”
Antania crossed her arms. “He probably wanted to keep his private life, you know, private? After being The Blaze, every now and then, he was swarmed by fans. Must’ve been tiring.”
I clenched my jaw. “I can only imagine…” Wait, why am I getting mad? I barely knew who he was for crying out loud! I thought. I took a couple of seconds to take a couple of deep breaths.
Paetra looked at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” I pressed my lips. Nope! I’m still ticked! Why though? “How about you show me around some other places?”
If they kept wondering why I was angry, they didn’t ask. I wouldn’t even know what to say about why I was so mad.
As they toured me around the sites more, we walked by two long lines of dragons and fae, though they were separated.
“Why are dragons and fae separate here?” I tilted my head. “If they’re treated equally, shouldn’t they be mixed?”
“Oh, it’s nothing racist or anything like that.” said Paetra. “The recruiters just find their jobs easier when they’re separate so the dragons can check out their own and the fae likewise. It also just prevents a single massive line.”
“Wait, recruiters? For what?”
“For the Fellguard, our military.” Antania rolled her eyes. “That crash must’ve messed with you badly if you don’t remember that.”
Before I could get an answer, I heard a loud booming voice call out to my tour guides.
“Good afternoon, you two!” said a yellow dragon standing a little over Suirauqa with scars all over his body, walking right towards us. He had what looked like some sort of copper necklace with jewels.
“Good afternoon, sergeant Drena!” Antania and Paetra said together. Antania bowed, and I was about to do the same until Paetra went wide-eyed and used her wing to lift my head and tilt it, just like she was doing. I narrowed my eyes at her.
“At ease!” Said Drena.
Antania stood up again, and Paetra allowed me to put my head back in a neutral position.
“Is this a new recruit?” He asked, “A little injured to be fighting, don’t you think? Who did this to you, young dragon? Was it Beowulf?”
Before I could say anything, Paetra said, “We didn’t bring him to recruit. He’s new to Dragonfell City, but he just crashed through some trees and got hurt badly. Elder Suirauqa is having us care for him until he’s better.”
“Ah, retired general Suirauqa, eh? You’re in good hands, then. These two are the best healers we’ve got.” Drena puffed out his chest. “When you’re all better, be sure to come by my office. We could use more dragons to defend our nation from the human scourge.”
I slowly nodded. With that, he turned around and walked away. As soon as he was out of our voice’s presence, Paetra stared at me. “Are you crazy!?” She said, “You do NOT present your horns like that in front of a dragon, or anyone, much less a sergeant in the Fellguard!”
I was so shocked that I stepped back. “Wait, present my horns? I was just trying to bow.”
“A dragon doesn’t bow like that! I understand you may have trouble remembering stuff, but that stuff’s etiquette! Dropping your horns like that is a challenge, usually a physical fight when it’s against a dragon!”
“I- I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I swear!”
Paetra sighed. “For your sake, let’s hope it doesn’t.”
“How come Antania could bow like that?”
“She has no horns, so she wouldn’t pose a threat if she bowed down. Listen, when dragons are formally addressing each other, they always, always tilt their head upwards so the other doesn’t think they’re about to get rammed or have a breath weapon used against them. It’s a sign of respect.”
I was so used to bowing in my human form that it was just a force of habit. “Okay, I understand.”
The rest of the tour was uneventful. They showed me a couple of art galleries showcasing art made by both dragons and fae, and they took me through a couple of museums. The next thing we knew, it was about sunset. My feet were aching badly.
“We should get you home,” Paetra looked at me. “I imagine you’re tired.”
“Yeah, a bit,” I admitted.
“Sorry for keeping you so late; we didn’t even notice the time.”
“You’re good. It was fun other than nearly challenging a high rank dragon… and getting scolded….”
When we finally reached Suirauqa’s place, my feet were about to give out. We bowed when Suirauqa opened the door and he let us in. We were hit with the scent of freshly baked bread.
“Apologies, Elder.” said Antania. But we can’t stay longer; we just came to drop Ethan off.”
“Very well.” Suirauqa nodded. “Have a goodnight then.”
The duo bowed and left the house.
“So,” Keith slapped my side, “How was your day with those pretty-looking nurses at your side?”
“For the most part, it was pretty good. I may have almost pissed off a sergeant in the army, though.”
“What the heck did you do?”
I told him what had happened, and Suirauqa cringed.
“My apologies. I should have informed you on etiquette sooner rather than later.” sighed Suirauqa.
“It’s okay. At least Paetra corrected me.”
“In any case, I’m glad you enjoyed your time. Dinner is about ready, and Keith helped, too.”
“What’s on the menu?”
Keith grinned. “A taste from home, some burgers. Buns were freshly baked, too!”
“Ooh. Sounds good.” I licked my lips as I laid down. “I’m just going to lay down here for a bit. My legs are dead tired.”
Keith took a cushion and laid it by my head. “At least use this.”
I lifted my head and laid on it. “Thanks.”
“No problem, man.”