Revolted
Either Trent and Kalon work extremely fast, or the kingdom had already been eager to get me gone before it was too late. By the time night had fallen Trent had come to Leon and I to tell us that he, us, and Benson and Grysbok were leaving in the morning for the forest.
I mean, what were they so afraid of? That I would go into 'heat' or something? How bad could that be, really? Dragon's were not mindless beasts that were bound to go crazy because of a little reproductive cycle.
It must have been a genetic memory, as It didn't feel like something directly given by my mother.
But I just knew what would happen: nothing.
Sure, I might get a little more irritable until my fertile cycle ended, I would even give off a scent that could alert males that I was physically ready to carry eggs.
.. but it wasn't like I would turn into some sort of mindless beast or something!
I mean, did humans change all that much during their cycles? No! So why the heck were they so worried about mine? Sure, I'd been a human female, and so knew that 'going into heat'-as it were- wasn't 'nothing', but I sure has hell hadn't been politely run out of freaking town for it!
Whatever. Like Leon had said, we were headed to find answers, even if the reason for it was dumb in my humble opinion.
The next morning Leon had woken me up early, bags already packed, and we headed out for the training grounds to begin our journey. The others were already out there, the humans dressed in comfortable and warm riding clothes, and the dragons...
"Is that a saddle?" I growled, instinctively offended at the very thought.
Trent sighed, patting Kalon's side with a leather gloved hand. "Allura, no one will make you do a thing. However, you've never taken Leon on a long flight before, have you?"
"No." I stated, in the same dangerous tone.
Young and nervous Benson came forward, carrying a large leather something with a bunch of straps and buckles.
I assumed it was a saddle, though I could see immediately that it looked nothing like what Kalon and Grysbok were already wearing on their scaly backs.
"Well, as beautiful and strong as those lovely scales are-" Trent stated, pointing at my hide- which was, indeed, lovely. "- they will easily tear into the Prince's legs over a long flight, leaving him a bloody and useless mess."
On Kalon and Grysbok's backs were sculpted wood and leather saddles, designed to match their scales.
Ornate yet practical, with a clear eye towards the rider and the dragon's comfort.
In my old life I never road horses, and rarely saw a saddle up close; but even to my untrained eye, these were beautiful works of art that a craftsmen must have put their everything into making them.
But everything in me still balked at the very thought. I even felt my lips pull back from my dagger like teeth as Benson dragged the less than lovely thing my way. The young man froze, eyes wide.
"Allura, if you don't like it, then I won't make you wear it..." Leon said, clear distress in his voice as he cautiously reach out a hand to pat the side of my neck.
"Leon is right." Stated Kalon in that boulder voice of his. "Even dragon's hatched out specifically to become a partner of a dragoon are never made to wear a saddle. It's only natural that you would feel revulsion over it, especially as a wild dragonelle as you are."
I glared up at the black drake, and felt my thick claws dig into the hard packed earth of the training ground.
"I, also, was extremely hesitant during the founding of our order- as were all the drakes who first fought next to our two-footed comrades.
" Kalon continued. "And, if you still insist that you absolutely will not wear it, then you won't. It will mean that we'll only be able to fly for an hour or so at a time, needing to stop frequently so that Leon doesn't get hurt.
It will turn a day and a half long trip, into a week and a half. "
"You'll miss the Dragon Festival." Benson piped in, earning a glare from me. Grysbok's thick tail circled the young male protectively, his brown scales reflecting the morning sunrise.
As if to distract me, Trent spoke up. "Normally a personal, temporary saddle- like that one-" He said, indicating the tangle of leather in Benson's hands.
" - would be made so that it can easily be adjusted as a drake slowly grows over the course of four to five years.
Then, when he reaches maturity, and the growth rate drastically slows, one of these is made for them.
" He reached up and patted a buckle on Kalon's shiny black and gold saddle.
It was the highest he could reach at the moment.
"It's sort of like a milestone for the drakes of the Order." Kalon stated. "Painstakingly designed by craftsmen who have train for generations, just to craft these, and these alone."
It must have been a strange profession. I doubted a craftsmen would need to make more than a couple every year. Unless the saddles got damaged often. Though they looked rather sturdy for that.
Objectively speaking, they did look quite lovely, and both Kalon and Grysbok didn't look any less impressive for them.
Even my previously human mind saw the logic and practicality behind them.
But something- something- in me just rejected the very concept with every fiber of my being.
The very sight of the ugly leather thing filled me with an inexplainable rage. ..
"It's okay Allura." Leon said, clear worry evident in his voice. "Its not needed. We've flown together plenty of time without one, right?"
"Keep in mind-" spoke up Kalon. "- that it will be highly unlikely that you and Leon will be able to engage in any sort of aerial acrobatics, and especially no in-flight-combat, without a saddle. Not unless you want the prince to fall to his death."
I really did not want that...
Basically, this wise old dragon was telling me that, unless I got over this, my hopes in fulfilling Leon's dream to be a proper Dragoon were destined to fail.
We would only ever be a prop of a dragon and rider duo.
Grounded and paraded about as a pretty center piece of their Order.
Leon's dream- so close to finally being realized- would wither away as nothing more than a man blessed by a god, with a pretty dragon as a friend.
That actually irked me. All that effort, skill points spent, mental dedication... wasted? How annoying.
Besides, Kalon was a wild drake... technically. At least he was one before making his first bond. Was I just going to sit here and accept that he could do something that I couldn't- or wouldn't. All because of a little leather?
Logically speaking, I was just being pig-headed here, right?
Me, a fierce and majestic being that should be envied by all.
.. afraid of a little leather and straps?
As if such an ugly thing could diminish my magnificence!
Sure, that thing could never compare to me, but nor could it possibly be so powerful as to make me 'less than'.
It was just some insignificant nothing, an I- well I could make even the brightest of lights look dim. Right?
I eyed the light, temporary, saddle. I hated it. I really, really, really hated it.
I then looked down at Leon. He was also looking at the saddle like it had offended his family. It made me a little happy that he was disgusted on my behalf. It didn't help my revulsion, though.
Still, I was aware enough to know that this was all about instinct over mental fortitude. And I was a damn dragon! Like heck I would let something like instinct dictate what I did and did not do.
It took every fiber of my being, but eventually, I managed to growl out my answer: "Just put it on me... If I want, I'll just tear it to shreds later."
"You sure?" Leon asked, surprised.
"No." I stated. "Hence why I said I'd tear it up if I feel like it." Even to me, I could tell my voice was very growly.
"Right..." Leon reached out a hand toward Benson. "Best if I do it..."
"I agree." he said, handing over the saddle.
"Well, lets do this then. Tell me to take it off whenever you like, alright?" Leon said, walking hesitantly towards me with the hated object.
Despite it being Leon coming towards me, I felt my lip curl. "Lets just get this over with."