First Dragoner: Detour

I was, as usual, traveling. The long road from Keldel to Ramsford was empty in the predawn light. To be honest it was really little more than a faint dirt track through the foothills of the Hadari Mountains, since it was so little traveled. Sure, trading caravans came through a couple of times a year as well as the occasional platoon of cavalry, but that was about it. There were easier ways, if longer ones, to get to Ramsford. Not to mention they were all a good bit safer for a lone traveler. No, I wouldn’t be surprised to not see another soul until I got much nearer the town.

I’d been wandering around the countryside for a while now, holding no constant trade of my own. Since I’m not a fan of being stuck in any one place I tend to drift through the world taking whatever odd jobs appeal to me; mostly escort and guarding jobs for local lords. Over time I’d developed somewhat of a reputation as a mercenary of respectable skill and great integrity, which was why I was headed toward Ramsford. Apparently a band of raiders had been plaguing traders in the area, even killing a few. The town’s Viscount was looking for good swordsmen to put down the threat, and would pay pretty well for whoever did it.

Ramsford itself is a border town much like any other, situated at the traditional boundary between the Thygard Kingdom and the Naseerian Empire. Small, fortified, and remote, little traffic came through apart from military patrols and trading caravans. As its name suggested, it rested on the edge of a river, the Hadruun, at the one point the flow could be forded anywhere within five days’ ride. The town’s main feature was the central square, bordered by the Viscount’s keep on one side and the shops of the town’s smith, carpenter, butcher, and some others on the other sides. It was a well maintained place, clean and almost pleasant to live in. Certainly it wasn’t a bad choice of places to try for a job.

The miles fell away slowly as the hours passed. I could walk all day on flat ground, but I doubt there was any between here and Ramsford. It was pretty grueling work, and I had to rest every couple of hours, but the scenery made up for it quite nicely. There’s just something about mountain air and expansive vistas that refreshes a person. Though I took my time to appreciate the views, I still managed to reach the top of Thedin’s Pass around noon and there stopped to break my fast. The pass was the midpoint of my trek as well as the highest and most remote section of the trail. It was nestled up in the high pines, just a few hundred feet from the treeline past which there was nothing but bare granite.

I gathered stray branches from a group of fallen pines and lit my small cooking fire in a protected place on the edge of a cliff. Before long I had some pork sizzling sharply in my small pan and took a moment to relax. Taking a rag from my pack, I wiped the sweat from my face. Then, after removing the band from my shoulder-length hair, I shook it out. Once my hair was loose I wet my rag from my water bag and tried to bring some order to my hair and goatee. It took a while, but the refreshing sensation of damp hair on my neck was well worth it.

I spent the next few minutes studying the woods around my resting place. It was pretty quiet up here with just the wind, the trees, and the birds for company. It was rare for predators, at least the four legged types, to come up this high, so after looking the terrain over I relaxed and whiled the time away by whittling at a stick. When the pork was done I dug some bread out of my pack and, soaking up the pork grease with the bread, ate. The meal was simple, but filling. After another half hour or so I packed my gear and made ready to continue. I didn’t get too far. After only a couple of hundred yards a massive shadow suddenly eclipsed the sun. Seeing it, and feeling a compression of air so strong enough to nearly pop my ears, I threw myself off the path into a patch of small pines. I got back on my feet as another compression came, followed by a ground-shaking thud. I’d never run into a situation like this before, nor had I ever heard of it happening to anyone else. Long ago I’d learned that the unexpected, more often than not, is also the unwelcome. My right arm crossed my body, gripping the subtly ridged hilt of my hand-and-a-half sword, and drawing it with a smooth hiss of steel. Weapon up and ready, I parted two bushes with my free hand and looked out into the large clearing trading caravans used as a stopping place.

I’d expected to see a lot of strange things when I signed up for this, but the creature I was staring at now was more than I’d bargained for. Dull grey scales covered most of it, the exceptions being the two huge wings that were folding gracefully around it. A long, serpentine neck turned its massive head toward me. Its body was surprisingly smooth, for all the stories of such creatures noted the many spikes that studded their hides. The dragon’s pale red eyes whirled lazily and somehow I knew he was amused. He? Now where had that come from? It wasn’t like I could tell by looking, not without possibly causing fatal (to me) outrage.

As I stared at the dragon a deep bass voice sounded in my head, seeming to resonate like one of the large brass battle horns used by the Bridench Kingdom to relay orders, “Come out, Treys. Your caution is admirable, but I mean you no harm.” As if to prove his point the dragon settled down onto his belly and stretched languidly, stretching his taloned fore-paws out in a movement reminiscent of the large felines I’d seen roaming these mountains.

I considered his words for a moment, then sheathed my sword. After all, if he did mean me harm the bushes would hardly have slowed him down, much less prevented his attack. Keeping my hand on my blade’s hilt, I stepped out from the trees. For a moment we just looked at each other, man and dragon facing each other in the tall, wind-whipped grass. One clad in leather and steel, the other in danger and mystery. I was quite wary of approaching any nearer than I needed to, much less talking to the beast. However, an almost morbid curiosity won out quickly and I spoke nervously, “Who are you? And what’s going on here?”

The dragon blinked and snorted, again giving me the feeling he found me funny. A small tendril of smoke curled up from his snout as he replied, “Search yourself for a moment. You already know who I am.”

There was little reason not to do as he asked (and several good ones to comply), so I cast about in my mind for his name. For several heartbeats I found nothing unexpected, then a name popped into my head quite suddenly and I knew it was the one. Slightly wary, I nodded and said, “You’re right, Selvith.”

Selvith rumbled deep in his throat in what I was sure was an amused chuckle. Then he stood and, turning, presented me his flank, saying, “Get on, Treys. I will explain on the way.”

That I had not expected, “Ah…thanks, but I don’t make a habit of taking rides from strange creatures…” I clapped my mouth shut before I could screw up any worse. After all, insulting dragons probably is not something one does to increase his life expectancy. Quickly, I tried to patch up my blunder, “U-uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to give any offense…where do you want to take me anyway?”

Selvith chuckled, this time blowing a small puff of smoke from his nostrils. He watched it drift away on the westerly wind for a moment, then turned his head to me and replied, “We are going somewhere no one else has ever been. There are things that must be done, and you must help do them. Now, let’s stop wasting time.” He turned then, showing me his left flank and back, and continued, “Get on, Treys. Or do I help you on?” I could hear the amusement in his voice again, but wasn’t entirely ready to push my luck.

I took a few steps forward and reached out to touch the dragon. His hide was hard and scaly, but unexpectedly warm. The scales that armored his body were very smooth, though the edges were sharp. Looking up I noticed for the first time the leather saddle Selvith wore. Leather straps extended around his chest and secured it to him. Other straps would secure a special harness that could be adjusted to snugly fit a rider’s waist and shoulders. Finally taking my hand off my sword, I scrambled up the dragon’s foreleg and settled myself in the saddle. I admired Selvith’s wings, which were quite large and were tipped with claws at the last joint, as I tied the straps. As soon as I finished with the last strap he turned to the cliff, paused for half a second, then rushed forward and with a surge jumped from the edge. We fell about fifty yards before he swept his wings forward and propelled us back into the sky.

As soon as we leveled off and my heart had slowed I asked the question that had been nagging me for several minutes. Selvith didn’t answer immediately, but hummed to himself a bit, the thrumming sound a bass vibration between my legs. As the seconds passed I wondered at my luck. How could it be that I was riding a dragon? They weren’t even supposed to exist!

“You want to know what is going on?” Selvith finally confirmed after a few moments. His head twisted and one huge eye regarded me.

“Yeah. Dragons aren’t supposed to exist here. They weren’t coded in.”

Selvith bobbed his head in acknowledgement and turned to look forward again, “We are a new creation, a new addition to Librameia. The game has become stagnant. The Admin decided to introduce some new blood, to change the balance of power in Librameia. Now all the others must choose sides. Will they oppose us or fight alongside us?” Selvith seemed excited about the prospect, and it certainly explained things. Life had indeed fallen into a pattern, something that made it even harder to believe this was actually super-advanced virtual reality.

For a moment I was distracted by the thought of my real body, lying on an immersion bed. Various tubes kept me comfortable while my mind was literally a world away. But the game was programmed to keep us immersed unless we wished to disconnect. Slowly reality began fading out to be replaced with the affairs of Librameia.

Back in the moment, I asked Selvith the next logical question, “Okay. But why did you seek me out?”

I could hear the smile in Selvith’s voice, “Can you not guess? A dragon needs a rider if he is to be more than an overlarge pest.”

For a long time we were both silent, but eventually Selvith spoke again, his voice very serious, “Treys. Will we be one? Consider carefully for the decision is permanent.”

“Yes, Selvith, we will be one,” I replied after giving it some thought. This was bound to be a great adventure, which was why I was here, was it not? As soon as I finished speaking a severe case of vertigo hit, making the world spin and causing me to fall forward and hang onto Selvith’s neck to steady myself.

Suddenly, as the vertigo eased, my mind seemed to open up, a barrier I’d never known was there ripping apart. My consciousness expanded into another’s as the other’s rushed in to join with mine. It was extremely uncomfortable, a mental sensation very like what one gets when too quickly pulling on clothes that were just ironed. It took a moment, but it eventually clicked that this new presence was Selvith and I willed the barriers I’d erected on instinct to drop. Instantly the fusion went to a whole other level. A magnificent roar ripped from our throats, prompting a long plume of silver fire to erupt from our dragon mouth. It whipped back suddenly, twirling around us. We could feel changes happening, indescribably complex.

When the flames died we examined ourselves mid-flight. The scales of our dragon body were gone, leaving new ones in their places. From the tip of our tail to the end of our snout we were pure, blinding silver. Our body had grown somewhat as well, perhaps another two human arm lengths. The spikes we had expected had grown in too, looking like gleaming teeth the length of a man’s forearm. Our human body was still there too, a young man slumped forward, eyes staring. We could see through them too, though, so it was odd seeing them turn silver to match our hide. Then the silver appeared around our human body’s eyes and started to spread, a sharp pain and odd pleasure combined, and formed graceful patterns. The tattoo it created seemed to emanate strength and courage.

We remained merged for a long time, three hours or so, from the position of the sun. Eventually I was alone in my own body once again, though my mind retained its link to Selvith’s. I couldn’t help but marvel at the changes in my senses. Every sense was ten times, a hundred times, more acute than before. I saw further, heard more, and smelled as never before.

Selvith’s excitement was just as great and resulted in amazing aerial acrobatics. I asked him why and he snorted and pointed out that he’d never done that before either, so how could I expect him to know what it was like? We played at acrobatics for a long time as we continued our journey, only settling down when a towering cliff came into view directly ahead. A great fortress was carved into the mountain itself, with windows spotting the cliff face like the blackest of eyes. Selvith never paused, though, and his resolve strengthened my own. We would face whatever came next. We would face it together, and this strangest of bonds would see us through.