DRAGONS
For anyone at sea level, the island of Morticas would have been far below the horizon, but the dragon Videnveld was circling the island at a height of three miles, and to her, Morticas was clearly visible. What was closer was of far more interest, however, and it was something that could not exist. It was a V-shape in the water, a sign that something was slicing through the sea’s surface at a very high speed. Dragons could fly as fast, but no ship built by humans could travel so quickly with just sails or oars. The V-shape amid the waves was moving straight towards Morticas.
It was late in the day, and only the highest of the island’s peaks was still in sunlight, but for the waters below Videnveld, the sun had already set. Dragon eyes can make use of less light than those of humans, and even in the gloom she could make out the flapping of great wings just ahead of the point of the V-shape. If it is near the sea’s surface, that thing must have wings fifty feet across, she thought. No bird, bat or wyvern has a wingspan of even a quarter as much, so it must be a very small dragon.
Videnveld banked steeply and dropped into a downwards spiral. Soon she was able to sense the essence of a dragon, and then she saw that the dragon was flying just above the water and towing a gigboat. Had the young dragon been wearing a harness, Videnveld would have flamed the boat before even introducing herself, but the youngling had the towrope clutched in the talons of a hindleg. What looked like servitude was apparently being done out of free will. There were two humans huddled in the boat. Perhaps they were the youngling’s prisoners. Videnveld had never seen a dragon younger than herself.
‘Little Brother, what are you doing?’ she asked in the minds of the strange little dragon and the two humans in the boat.
The young dragon dropped the towrope at once, and flapped hard to gain height. Videnveld fell in beside him as they climbed in a wide spiral above the boat.
‘What I have to say is not for the ears of humans,’ said the young dragon. ‘When we are higher, then we can talk.’
At two miles they were back in sunlight.
‘I’m Dantar,’ said the young dragon.
‘You are very small.’
‘I don’t think that I’m a proper dragon like you.’
‘You do not have a dragon’s name, and from your crest I see that you are male. Dantarvaud should be the name of a male dragon.’
‘I’m not really a dragon,’ said Dantar in the dragons’ mindspeak. ‘Like, I’m human.’
‘No, you are not really a human, either,’ said Videnveld. ‘Very curious.’
‘So what am I?’
‘Human or dragon, whatever you feel like being.’
‘I want to be normal,’ said Dantar, with a note of unhappiness in his mindspeak.
‘Normal humans never do anything visionary, and dragons never do anything normal.’
‘What is that meant to mean?’
‘You can do things I cannot. Why are you towing those humans in the boat?’
‘They are my friends. People are trying to kill us, so I am taking them with me. Please, don’t let them know I’m a dragon.’
‘One would need to have very poor eyesight not to notice.’
‘You don’t understand, I told them the human Dantar is sheltering on my back. I don’t want them to think I’m not human.’
‘But being a dragon is something to be proud of.’
‘Humans don’t see it like that. I was raised as a human, and people have . . . expectations.’
‘Did I meet you in Merk, five evenings ago?’
‘Merk! Were you the dragon on the roof?’
‘I was. So, Dantarvaud, you are Velzaveld’s brother.’
‘My sister’s a dragon too?’
‘Of course.’
‘That explains a lot.’
‘Why are you going to Morticas?’
‘Our father made an evil shapecasting to chase and kill me. I was told that someone in Morticas could help me escape it.’
‘What are your earliest memories of being a dragon?’
‘I’ve only just discovered that I can shapeshift into a dragon. I was raised as a human, and a pretty unmagical human I was, too.’
‘You have human attitudes. I can arrange for those attitudes to be wiped away, and for your dragon self to be unblocked as we did for Lady Velza.’
‘You mean she wasn’t a dragon, but you turned her into one?’
‘In attitude only.’
‘I suppose you didn’t have to make many changes. So what happens now? Do I have to join a dragon guild or something?’
‘I am not sure. I shall continue watching you.’
‘You’re just going to watch? Nothing else?’
‘I want to learn about you.’
‘Oh. Well, I must take my friends to Morticas. It was nice meeting you, er, Lord Dragon.’
‘Videnveld is my name.’
‘Veld? So you’re a girl?’
‘Girls are human. I am a female dragon.’
‘Well, like I was saying, it was nice meeting you but I have to go. My friends are stuck in the middle of the ocean with no sail.’
Dantar spiralled back down to the boat, snatched the rope out of the water, then continued his flight southeast.
‘What was all that about?’ called Marko from the boat once they were speeding along again.
‘Dragon talk,’ said Dantar. ‘Not long now, the voyage to Morticas is almost over.’