Fated Encounter
"Is this a bonded dragon?" I heard someone ask, pulling my attention away from the royal siblings.
"Worry about that momentarily." Stated the heroic guard, looking determined as her sheathed his saber. "Please stay in the carriage your majesties. We have no way of knowing whether or not there are more of the ruffians."
The prince held his trembling sister closer, and all I could see was the top of her pretty blonde head and the frills of her blue dress.
"Sir, if we could please pull the carriage away? The princes..." Asked the maid that was half seated on a bench behind the prince. She looked pale but also resolute. She had eyes only for her charge.
"Yes, of course." Nodded the guard before turning to one of his men. "Turks. You, Roberts and Carson lead the carriage down the road a ways, but stay in sight. Her highness does not need to see such gruesome things."
"Yes Sir!" Replied the uniformed man I could only assume was Turks.
The younger man wanted no time hurrying over to the still skittish horses at the front of the carriage.
I thought the beasts would be too on edge to more, but clearly they were just as eager to get away from the scent of blood and allowed the man to lead them and the carriage full of royals away.
I was feeling a little like a fish out of water, and found myself just standing there next to the dark haired man while the rest of the guards hurried about, dragging bandit corpses off the road and tending to the injured.
After about another minute the man turned to me with a sigh, eying me up and down with an appraising eye. "I thank you for your aide." He said, bowing slightly with a stiff back.
"Um... Sure?" I said, feeling a little nervous. This was the first time I had spoken to anyone that didn't have feathers and zero conversational skills in quite some time. And lets be honest, even before my death, I didn't really talk all that much.
The man looked up at me, looking surprised. "So you do know the Common tongue? Does that mean that you are a bound dragon?"
"Er..." I honestly never even thought about the fact that I knew what these men were saying.
How did I know a language from another world?
Understanding my mother was easy to accept: I just assumed that the dragon language was something I either inherited though genetic memory, or it was one of the few personal memories she managed to pass on to me.
Did she also hand down this 'common tongue' too?
Or was this some side effect of reincarnation?
"As far as I am aware, I'm not bound to anything. "
"You do not have a Rider...?" He asked, looking even more confused.
I shook my head on its long neck. "I am not a pack mule." I said, feeling a little offended that he would assume I was some person's pet. These men didn't have something to do with the dragon egg snatching, did they?
"He must be a wild dragon." Stated another of the soldiers, dusting off his pants and smiling at me. "And if that is the case, then we are doubly grateful for your aid, sir!"
Okay, now I really was offended. What about me screamed 'male'?
I get that genders can be rather fluid, but I had pink scales!
Pink! Even if there was a strong possibility -which there absolutely was, its not like only female dragons could be born pink- I was a male, I would have just assumed 'female' on the color alone.
How masculine did I look? I get that I haven't been able to get a great look at myself, just in the reflection on the lake, but I thought I look quite beautiful! Thank you very much!
"This dragon is a female." Stated a soft, but firm voice behind me. "I think you should not assume things without any prior knowledge." The friendly guard went pale and jumped into a salute. "M-my apologies your majesty!" He said.
The prince had returned, making the commander fellow frown. He now stood behind me, dressed to the nines in a very princely outfit of blues and golds, with a white short cape.
"You should be apologizing to our rescuer." He sighed. "I am sorry, Miss dragon, for my guardsmen's rude behavior." He said, turning those baby blues on me.
Had I of been ten or fifteen years younger, i might have seen this prince as a dream boat. As it was, late teens was a little too young for my blood. Not to mention, we were very obviously not the same species at the moment, so it was a mute point. I saw him as attractive, objectively speaking.
Actually, wasn't I technically younger than him now? Biologically speaking.
"it's fine." I sighed, shaking out the nervousness from my scales. These people seemed awfully calm about running into a freaking dragon, didn't they? I mean, I know I just helped them out and all, but shouldn't they still be at least a little nervous? I sure as heck would have been.
"Get back to work." The dark haired guard said before turning to the prince. "Your majesty, you were meant to stay with her highness, princess Serenity..." He sounded exasperated, and scratched the back of his neck.
The prince smiled sadly. "Sorry about that Captain Loric.
I couldn't help myself." That done, he turned the full attention of those baby blues on me and made another slight bow, which made me uncomfortable.
Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?
He was the prince here, after all. Not that I particularly wanted to be bowing to anyone.
"I wished to thank you personally. Our two people may have a pact, but nothing in that pact says that you are obligated to aid some foolish travelers on the side of the road.
You are truly a merciful dragon Miss." And he bowed once again.
"Well..." I said, giving the pair the side eye. What pact? What the heck were they talking about? "I heard the girl scream. It was a no brainer, really. But uh- your welcome, I guess?"
The Prince chuckled. "I must say it is an odd treat to see a wild dragon, especially one so young, so fluent in the common tongue. From what I am given to understand, most wild dragons think the language beneath them."
"Oh, well... I guess I just hatched knowing it, so..."
"Really? Then your Dam must be a truly wonderous dragon then, to think to pass such knowledge to her young.
" The look the prince gave me then made me think that I was supposed to take that as a compliment, but mostly I was just curious how it was these people seemed to be so in the know about dragons.
Also, I wasn't sure how much about myself was safe to share with these people? I knew nothing other than they were royalty, and or guards to some royalty.
Suddenly, I felt woefully uninformed about this world. More specifically, about both human's and dragons. How could I expect to wheedle out information about bandits, potential hideout locations, and gods knew what else besides, when I didn't even know how to interact with people in this world?
I mean, these people made it seem like it was perfectly normal to just strike up a conversation on the side of the road with a dragon!
Could I have just strolled into a town in my true shape all along, and just wasted twenty points on my humanoid form for nothing?
Well, maybe not for nothing. I am sure there would still be plenty of uses for it, but still. ..
Biting my lip -figuratively speaking, as I could not actually do that as a dragon- nervously, I decided to tell them the minimum in hopes of getting more information in return.
"My Dam died." I told them, and watched as their faces fell.
"Bandits killed her around abouts two months ago.
They smashed my brother's eggs and took off with several others.
I have just set out to look for them." There, that was pretty succinct, right?
Noting about me personally, like the fact that I had memories from my old world or anything.
"Bandits!" Said the Prince, angerly. "They killed a dragon?! And took her eggs?" H looked as angry as I felt.
I nodded. "I had to wait till I was big enough, to give chase. I am hoping to locate my siblings before they can do anything to them."
The prince began to pace angerly, while Captain Loric finger the head of his saber and looked deep in thought. I could tell that this was very disturbing news to these men. Maybe they could help me after all.
"I don't suppose you two know where a girl could find a bandit camp or something near by...?"
The prince stopped his pacing and eyed me up and down.
"I am sorry, but there shouldn't be any.
These passing ruffians, sure-" He said nodding his head to the body of a bandit that one of the guards was dragging off the road.
"But an organization both strong enough, and brazen enough, to take on a nesting dragon?
Here! In Orelious?" He shook his head. "If what you say is true then we have a major issue in the kingdom that needs to be brought to my father's attention as soon as possible.
.." He continued to look fearful and agitated for a moment, before he turned back to me.
"You said this happened two years agon?"
"What, no. I said two months. At least, I think its been about that long. It is pretty hard to keep an exact count of days out in the forest."
Now the pair looked surprised, sharing a worried glance between them. "You- you say that your damn laid another clutch of eggs while you were still with her?"
What were these people on about? And why were they looking at me like that? Now I was getting irritated.
"No. The eggs taken were my full siblings, lain at the same time as me.
" Maybe they needed more context? They seemed so knowledgeable about dragons so far that I just assumed they knew more than my own lackluster understanding of my own kind.
"I sensed mother being attacked, and so started my hatching.
By the time I broke free of my shell, mother had been mortally wounded, my brothers lay slain next to me, and the other two eggs mother said had been taken.
Then she died. I've spent the last two months gaining size so that I could fly and avenge her and find my siblings. "
There, I spelt it out for them. Geeze, I just wanted to know where I could find the bandits. What was with this weird interview.
"But-" Said Captain Loric, sharing a side long glance with the prince.
"We do not mean offence." Stated the blonde. "It's just, well, you look more along the lines of a two year old dragon, Miss. A two month old dragon should not hardly be up to my knee..."
No, that couldn't be right. I was the size of a horse and nearly twice as heavy! That is not just a growth spurt, you know!?
Nervously, I decided to spill the beans about my own ignorance. these people seemed willing to tell me pretty much anything I wanted to know, and seemed nice enough. i could only hope they did not try and take advantage of my lack of basic knowledge.
"I... Didn't know that." I admitted. "the truth is, my mother was very near death when I hatched.
She was not able to pass on my inheritance.
I got only scattered bits and pieces from her, and much of it is either hard to understand, or only comes to me when prodded.
" My large feet shuffled nervously. "I have no explanation for you. "
I saw a mix of worry and pity enter the men's eyes. I understood the sentiment, though I was illogically resistant to it. Perhaps, as a dragon, I did not like being pitied.
Finally, the Prince spoke, eyes serious.
"Miss dragon... Would it be alright with you, if you returned to the capital with us?
I know such a request is rather unconventional, but this is a topic of great worry, and my father would appreciate hearing it directly from the source.
Orelious and dragon kind are in a binding pact, and if there are citizens attacking dragon kind.
.. this is a very dangerous topic. Perhaps we can help one another?
And, I assure you, that it is our kingdoms greatest wish to uphold peace between our two races.
You will, hopefully, get aid in the locating of your nest mates, and we will rid our kingdom of this filth. "
He seemed very earnest, and the truth was that, I clearly needed help.
When I first made this plan of rescue and vengeance, i had simply envisioned a wild hunt culminating in some epic fight for justice where I stormed a bandit camp, torched the place, and got my siblings out of there.
Clearly everything was far more complicated than that.
"Allura is my name." I said. "And yes, I would appreciate the help, thank you."
The prince looked relieved and smiled my way. "Allura. it is a lovely name. I am Prince Leon Orelious, and we are doubly in your debt. I hope that we can locate your siblings, and perhaps, somewhat right the wrong that has been levied against you."