Toby Neighbors - Fierce Loyalty

Brianna stirred slowly. She was surrounded by warm, sleek bodies. Sun was shining into the mouth of cave, but it didn’t reach back to the recesses where Brianna was resting. She had slept for days after her work. The desire to create had been so strong it had held her in a feverish state for days without rest. Now, after leaving the dark cavern she had carved deep under the mountain, she was content to rest and watch her dragons fly.

They had needed time in the sun, time to hunt and feed, but most of all, time to adapt to their world. Many had chosen a life of solitude over the last several days, bidding her and the dragons that remained with her goodbye. It was hard to watch them go. Brianna wanted to keep them close to her and protect them, but she was not their mother. She had given them life, but they were dragons and, although she was dragon-kind, she could not protect them or insist on their loyalty. She didn’t feel betrayed by those that left her-in fact, she was happy for them in a way. Her desire had been to bring dragons into the world, to share their strength and wisdom with others. It was a task she had been part of, but they would have to complete it.

She had flown with them, racing high into the sky where the air was thin and cold. She loved letting flames cover her body in the icy wind, to feel the freedom of flight and to see the world from high above. She could not fly like her dragons, but she was at home in the air. Her bones had grown light and she could flip and turn, catch thermal updrafts and glide for miles and miles. Her dragons would carry her up into the air where she would leap away and fly down on her own, circling and looping with the dragons before landing softly. The dragons brought her food, and during their short time together their personalities had begun to shine.

Five dragons had chosen to stay with Brianna. Selix was her firstborn and the biggest of all the dragons she had made. Selix had bright golden scales and a broad back with small bony plates that ran from just behind its head all the way down to the end of the tail. Brianna often rode on Selix’s back, perched lightly between the massive, leathery wings and holding onto the plates.

Tig and Torc were the smallest of her dragons. Their scales were dark blue and they had short tails that were forked on the end. They were much faster than the other dragons, often flying far ahead and scouting out game when the pride went out to hunt.

Ferno was green and, although smaller than Selix, the most ferocious dragon of the pride. Ferno’s body was thick with muscles, and there short spikes on its tail, as well as two long, spiral horns on it’s head. Ferno was very protective of the pride, and especially of Brianna.

Gyia was purple with a long, thin body and two sets of wings that gave it the most maneuverability of any of the dragons in flight. Gyia had a long, tapering head and seemed to be the most reserved of the group.

Brianna loved each of the dragons and thought of them as her brothers and sisters more than her children, even though the dragons were neither male nor female. The pride had bonded, and even though they understood that Brianna wasn’t a dragon, she was the leader of their pride. She loved being with the dragons, loved the freedom of flight and the ferocious playfulness of the dragons with one another, but now that her urge to create was sated, she longed to return south and find Zollin. She wasn’t exactly sure how long she had been in the heart of the mountains, but now that the other dragons were gone and she had regained her strength, she knew it was time to move on.

Communicating with her pride was much more intuitive than talking, although the dragons were capable of human speech. The dragons used mental images to communicate with each other, and with Brianna more often than not. Brianna was teaching them to speak, often voicing her thoughts out loud so that the dragons grew more familiar with language.

“It is time for me to go,” she told the pride late one evening as the sun set and their cave grew dark.

She kindled a dancing flame and sent it up toward the roof of the cave so that it cast a soft, warm light all around. The dragons were watching her with bright, inquisitive eyes that were very different from Bartoom’s. Brianna had spent many days with the black dragon. It had angry, distrustful eyes, although it had come to trust Brianna. Time spent among men and wizards greedy for power who had forced Bartoom to do their bidding by harnessing the power of gold had made the beast angry and cynical. Her pride had not yet felt the sting of disappointment, and for that matter, neither had Brianna, but she understood that there were people in the world who would not trust her or the pride. They would see only fear and danger when they saw her dragons. Even though she longed to see Zollin, to hold him and tell him all the wonderful things she had discovered, she knew that she had to be careful to protect the pride.

In her mind she saw pictures of the hunt, and of dragons playing games high in the air over the mountain peaks.

“No,” she said, imagining the forest and cities in the south. “I need to go in search of my friend.” She thought of Zollin and sent the mental image to the pride. “He is my partner, my soul mate. It is a human trait, a need I have, and I will not force you to come with me. Humans may fear you, or even try to harm you.”

Ferno growled menacingly.

“But you must not harm them. We must learn to live in harmony with man,” she said, imagining the dragons being warmly greeted by humans.

She received another image of Selix flying among the clouds with Brianna on its back. One by one the other dragons joined the image. Brianna knew they were all seeing it, all sharing their desire to stay together.

“I will do my best to keep us safe,” she said. “But we must be cautious.”

The dragons growled and settled in around Brianna. She let the dancing flame go out. Her vision had improved the longer she had stayed with the dragons and she could see quite well at night. She lay staring out of the cave opening at the stars that shone in the distance as the dragons slept around her. She wondered where Zollin was. She regretted that she had not been able to tell him what she was doing, but at the time she had left with Bartoom, she hadn’t known herself. So much had changed. She had followed Zollin from Tranaugh Shire when the Torr had come to take him away. She had stayed with him for nearly a year, even though she often felt more like a hindrance than a help. Zollin had power that was both amazing and frightening. He could do so much it made Brianna feel small and weak.

And then everything had changed. Hammert the dwarf had given her a ruby, and the magical gem had kindled something deep inside Brianna. No one had known the ruby’s power, and perhaps, Brianna wondered, it was her own power that connected with the gemstone. Zollin often talked about objects having magical powers, but she now understood that there was powerful magic in many of the minerals found deep in the earth. When she had delved deep into the mountain, her molten fire melting through rock, she had sensed the power of the minerals she had passed, most specifically gold. It drew her dragon nature like a magnet. If given free reign, gold could mesmerize her, and she guessed any other dragon as well.

Gold had also played a pivotal role in creating her dragons. She had molded each dragon from the earth, shaping the beasts with fire, with her hands, and with her mind, but each of the dragons she had created started with gold. It was part of the dragons, lending them a magical power that was both potent and mysterious.

She thought about how Zollin had tempted Bartoom with gold, luring the dragon into a trap set by Zollin and the Felson legion. Then she realized that Felson was the perfect place to begin her search for Zollin. The city was big enough to have news from all over the kingdom, and there were people there that Zollin knew and cared about. She decided then, watching the stars twinkle in the autumn sky, that she would leave in the morning.