Chapter 10: Down Time

Now mark this name in silver flame, Ryuki, rider none could tame. No crown he wears, no sword obeys, He walks the wild, the dragon’s ways. Ryuki I was glad to see Tyffyn actually start training Soma properly the next day. After a couple of days of waiting and doing nothing, the riders and dragons began to get bored. Since we have time, seeing as the dragons aren’t going anywhere, I decided to test the riders. While Bynjym continues to stand guard around Ylys and the golden egg, I suggested a tournament for the dragons, something that would make them work hard and still have fun. With Bynjym’s help, I found a large jewel set into a mountain face nearby. I described the jewel, then sent the dragons out to search for it. I was surprised when other dragons, not just those with riders, decided to join in the hunt. ‘Dragons like pretty, sparkly things,’ Bynjym says. ‘Then why aren’t the silvers on the hunt?’ I ask. ‘The prettiest, most sparkly thing in our world is sitting on a nest in front of us. None of us are going anywhere until this little one hatches. Even then, we may stay for a while.’ ‘Should we set up a long-term camp?’ I ask drolly. “If you wish,’ he says, ignoring my sarcasm. Being bonded to Bynjym allows me to see farther than a normal human, so I watch as the dragons begin searching for the object that Bynjym found. “Give us a hint, Ryuki!” Elina says as her blue, Jynnyf, flies overhead. “It’s hidden,” I yell back. “Very funny,” Aris, green Cylyb’s rider says, passing behind Elina. Several bronzes, besides Shao’s Jyshy, are flying around trying to find the jewel. I realize how right Bynjym was to suggest this. The flight of so many dragons in one place isn’t a problem for the dragons, but it forces them to shift and move quickly. It’s the riders that face the toughest challenge in this game. They have to remain seated while their dragons fly up and down but also dodge other dragons in the air around them. Soma loses her seat, but she’s doing better today than she did yesterday. And she’s not the only one. Carme, Aris, and Dion also lose their seats. Of the lower ranked dragons, only Mihal, Elina, and Mara maintain their seats. ‘Tomorrow, training for Carme, Aris, Dion, and Soma,’ Bynjym says. ‘Agreed, but maybe we need to come up with a way to encourage the dragons to truly test their riders. This competition worked well, but they need to practice like this every day,” I say. That night, we all congratulate Shao on finding the jewel. Over dinner, the riders talk about how exciting the treasure hunt was. I use the time to talk about more training for the ones who need it. Aris found potatoes, so we put them over the fire while our dragons bring food for us to eat. I’d never really considered it before, but the dragons don’t feed all of us, they only feed their riders. ‘You are my concern. The other riders have dragons to look out for them. Why would I feed them?’ Bynjym asks matter of factly. I guess that makes sense. ‘How long before the queen egg hatches?’ I ask him. ‘Not long,’ he says in his usual vague way. ‘Are you going to take me flying tomorrow?’ I ask him. ‘You’re becoming quite needy, aren’t you, human?’ he asks, making me smile. I miss my dragon’s sarcasm. ‘We talked about it and we all need to stretch our wings. If not tomorrow, then the next day.’ ‘Who is “we”?’ I ask him. ‘The silvers,’ he says as if it’s obvious. I find myself getting easily frustrated with the others. I don’t have a good reason for it, I just know that the more I see them flying on their dragons, the more agitated I become. The next day, Bynjym flies down to take me for a ride. ‘On my back, human,’ he says, flying near the mountain. I leap up and race to the edge of the mountain, jumping into the air and letting Bynjym catch me. The moment I’m on his back, I feel like everything that was making me irritable finally settles. This is where I belong, on the back of my very powerful dragon. ‘Of course you do. That’s why I chose you,’ Bynjym says in his usual dismissive and sarcastic way. Today, I ignore it, loving the feel of the sun and air on my face. It feels so good to be up here where I’m away from everything except my dragon. I lie back on him. It’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to just relax and fly together. It feels so good. I feel Bynjym’s clucking sound of happiness under me. He’s happy that I like being on his back again. He, like me, needed this time to get away and be together. I leave my legs dangling on either side of his neck, knowing that anything could happen at a moment’s notice and if it did, I’d need to quickly be able to hold on. But for now, I just enjoy the air, the sun, and my dragon. I’m not sure how long we’ve been flying when he says we need to head back. I sigh, not quite ready for our time to be over. However, when I open my eyes and sit up, I realize we’ve been flying for hours. The sun is starting to set and I know Bynjym feels the need to get back to guard the queen egg. On the way, he swoops down and grabs a large buck to give to Ylys. I feel like this is his way of flirting with her to get her to mate with him again. While there are only two silvers for Ylys to mate with, there are several bronzes and it’s always the female’s choice who she wants to mate with. I’ve watched the males strut in front of Ylys as well as the blues and reds trying to gain their favor and earn the right to mate with them. Shao’s Jyshy is a favorite of many of the dragon females. I think even Ylys has chosen to mate with him in the past. He’s a large bronze and I know Shao is smart, which means that Jyshy is smart. Dragons admire intelligence. The more intelligent the rider, the more intelligent the dragon. ‘What does that say about me?’ Bynjym says, implying that I’m not intelligent. ‘It says that you are the smartest of all dragons, my silver,’ I say, making him chuckle. Bynjym flies over Ylys’ nest and clucks at her, showing off the buck he brought her. She croons at him and I realize just how hungry she is. While she’s sitting on the nest protecting the egg, she can’t hunt for herself. She’s dependent upon the other dragons to provide food for her, and Bynjym has done that. He’s just dropped the buck in front of her when we hear the trumpeting sound of alarm from a dragon. As one, the dragons all trumpet their response. ‘What is it?’ I ask Bynjym. ‘Scyrlyt’s nest is being attacked,’ he says. He was just about to land, but rather than staying down, he drops to the ground then immediately rises back up in the air. ‘Royals?’ I ask. I can’t assume. Dragons do have several animal enemies, one, in particular, loves the taste of dragon eggs – sneak-snakes. The huge snakes live in the areas where the dragons nest. I’m not sure if the dragons drew the sneak-snakes because of where they choose to nest, or if the area was already their home and it is just bad luck for the dragons. Either way, there are always sneak-snakes around the dragon nests. It’s another reason the silvers are standing sentinel. They won’t let the snakes get their queen. ‘Yes,’ Bymjym growls, blowing fire in his anger as we fly. In the distance, I hear Scyrlyt’s angry scream, followed by the sound of her breathing fire. Most of the thunder has followed us. Two silvers stayed behind with Ylys to protect the queen, but the rest of us are flying to help protect Scyrlyt and her eggs. When Bynjym breaks over the edge of the mountainside, I see that the royals have Scyrlyt’s nest surrounded. They’re shooting arrows at her, and they are pulling a harpoon up the side of the mountain to bring her down so they can get to her eggs. ‘Bynjym!’ I say, mentally pointing him toward the harpoon. He screams angrily and blows his fire at the harpoon. I hear soldiers screaming in pain and in frustration. “It’s a Silver!” But we aren’t the only silver here and we aren’t the only dragon. Yntyn is the next silver to arrive, and he and Bynjym begin blowing their fire over the royals. It’s chaos as dragons blow fire at the soldiers and Scyrlyt stands over her eggs, flapping her wings in agitation, stoking the smoke from the multiple fires around her. The smoke makes it hard to see, but we know that dragons and dragon eggs can withstand heat. Humans can’t. So, the dragons continue to blow their fire at the area around Scyrlyt’s nest until we don’t hear any more sounds of fighting. Bynjym flies above the nest and Yntyn joins him. The two of them flap their wings, clearing the smoke from around the nest so we can see if the eggs are okay. As soon as the smoke clears, Scyrlyt screams angrily. One of her blue eggs is missing.