Chapter Two - An Invasion of Privacy

This is actually the third or fourth time I've tried to write this chapter, so... (Also, guess what Ajnin is supposed to be. :P)

CHAPTER TWO

AN INVASION OF PRIVACY

          Drygon hurried through the tunnel, passing alcoves on either side where the dragons slept �" not that they were there now, because by now nearly all the dragons were at the training field with their riders.  These alcoves were not caves �" dark, damp, and cold, with nothing but bare rock in them.  They were quite comfortable, with thick layers of straw on their floors, and magically heated rocks that gave off warmth and light when anyone was in the alcove, and stopped when there was not.  The dragons had requested these, as well as many other things, when the Dragon Breeders had been constructing the tunnel and the alcoves.  Most of these things were practical, and those things �" and some of those that were not �" were duly installed.

                Several yards ahead, he could see the artificial light of the Bargeled Fortress spilling into the tunnel, but there was someone standing ther �" a man or a large boy, judging by the silhouette.  As he got closer, the figure became recognizable as that of his trainee, Articae.  Articae had come to the Dragon Breeders ten years ago with a serious disease that also happened to be highly contagious.  The doctors in his town could do nothing, so his relatives �" his parents were dead �" left him in a “hospital” and moved to live on the archipelago, thinking him dead.  However, rather defying these rumors, he set out to find the Dragon Breeders after learning about them from his ward-mate, and how they were rumored to be able to cure any disease.  He succeeded finally, after stumbling tiredly into a tavern in Rugen one night and mumbling something about wanting to find Drygon the Dragon Master, then passing out �" ironically �" into the arms of Drygon himself.  The rumors Articae had heard were at least partially true �" a dragon’s scales, teeth, claws, and the like had unique properties that made them coveted by healers, potion makers, and even doctors, and the Dragon Breeders had attracted some of the best of the land (mostly for that very reason).  So, naturally rumors spread, and that was how Articae had heard.  Of course, he had been completely healed, but when he figured out where he was, he didn’t want to leave (although he wouldn’t have been allowed to do so without a memory wipe in the first place).  Drygon gave him permission to stay, and he requested to be trained as a Dragon Breeder (though not in so many words). He began training, and it was then that Drygon saw his potential as a warrior and a mage, but before Drygon acted he decided to wait a few years just to be sure.  As it turned out, he was correct in his assessment, and five years after Articae started training he was made a Dragon Rider.  When he turned seventeen, Drygon decided that he had proven himself well-adapted to the physical and mental strains of fighting on dragon-back, as well as to the use and control of magic (which was required for all Riders).

                Now, three years later, he was standing impatiently just inside the entrance to the tunnel.

                “Ah, there you are, Drygon.  What took you so long?  You’re just barely in time for the practice.”

                “Secret Police.  I really need to be more careful whom I talk to in pubs.”

                “Did they follow you?”

                “Of course.  All the way into the warehouse.”

                “And the tunnel?”

                “I’m pretty sure they found it.  Hopefully they forgot to send for reinforcements, but somehow I doubt it.”

                “Which means that now Shadon knows where we are.”

                “Oh, Shadon knew where we were ages ago.  He’s just been waiting for us to settle and let our guard down before he does anything.”

                “Well.  That would have been nice to know earlier, but that can wait.  Right now we have a small-scale invasion to prevent.  Unfortunately, nearly all the dragons are at the training field at the mo’, so it looks like we’ll have to take care of this ourselves.”

                “Not necessarily.  Watch this!”

                Drygon closed his eyes and muttered a spell.  With a small pop, a dragonfly appeared and landed on Drygon’s finger.  Drygon whispered a few words to it, and it flew off in the direction of the training field.

                “What was that?”  Art exclaimed, turning to follow its path.

                “It’s a spell that I just learned yesterday.  It was sent to me by King Ciasmos of the elves, who said that he had been meaning to send it to me for about three years �" basically since it was developed �" but had just now gotten around to it.  Apparently it was invented by a girl about your age.”

                “So a seventeen-year-old girl just happened to invent a spell three years ago that you happened to learn just yesterday, thus possibly saving our lives?”

                “Basically, yes.”

                “Well isn’t that convenient?”

                “Yes, it is.  Now shut up and get ready.”

Drygon and Articae drew their swords and turned to face the entrance of the tunnel, from which shouts and the sound of running boots were beginning to echo.

                “They must be getting close,” Art said.

                “Yes, in fact �" gods DAMN it!”  Drygon shouted as twenty huge men armed with swords and spears burst out of the tunnel and began to attack.  Fortunately, at about the same time, two dragons flew up behind them, and Ajnin and Bergen �" two other Riders of great skill and importance �" jumped off and began to help Art and Drygon.

                “Don’t kill the captain, if at all possible!”  Drygon yelled as the dragons literally jumped into the fray.

                “Fair enough!”  Ajnin replied.  She backflipped over one of the soldiers, who was coming up behind her, and promptly stabbed him between the shoulder blades, rendering him, essentially, dead.

                It was over in about a minute.  The captain had been incapacitated by Ajnin’s dragon Hazel, and was now tied behind Hazel’s saddle.  Everyone not dead or knocked senseless was breathing heavily, and it took them a minute to get back in a state where they could talk without gasping.  Drygon’s story was explained, the bodies of the Secret Police were magically buried, and the Riders climbed into the saddles of the dragons and proceeded back to the training field.