Tal’on lay on his belly with
Delevy curled up against his chest in the crook of his front leg. She had
finally fallen asleep.
After he surrendered in the
stadium, the Prime revealed many things from the safety of his perch in the box
overhead. He explained that the collars
they both wore had tracking devices built into them and if they were to try and
remove them, they also had an explosive device in them that would be activated and
no doubt decapitate them.
Tal’on did some snarling and
growling at this point, but the Prime calmed him by threatening to activate the
explosive device in Delevy’s collar if he did not behave. The guards escorted
them back down here to his cell. The good thing was he now knew where he was
and the way out should he chose to leave. He had no doubt he could knock down
the cell door and escape. The question was could he do it with Delevy and not
get him or her killed in the process. And, how far did they have to be from the
Prime and his detonation device before they were safe? Or was there a safe
distance?
Tal’on rolled the Sollen in his
free paw, the one not holding Delevy. He might be able to ‘jump’ out, but he
was not sure if he could take Delevy with him. Could someone other than his
kind accomplish a jump safely, or would she be ripped from him as he had been
from Graf’tal? Could he risk it? He didn’t think so.
Delevy frowned and mumbled in her
sleep. He gave her a comforting squeeze and puffed his breath into her hair.
With a smile, she curled toward his chest and settled down again. The breath of
Tillzar seemed to have the same comforting effect on Delevy as it did on the
hatchlings at home. Tal’on had thought it demeaning to have hatchling duty, but
now he was pleased he had and knew how to sooth his friend.
His friend was now his cellmate
and the turn of events which brought her to this point was difficult for her to
understand. Her people had turned against her, used her, and then discarded
her.
He huffed over her again. She reached
up and absently stroked his breastplate.
He nuzzled her hair and chuffed
softly. Tal’on’s eyes closed. In his mind he drifted, sailing quietly through
the clouds with Delevy on his back. She lay flat over the arch of his neck and
laughed as she hugged him tightly in her excitement.
The sound of the head jailer
brought Tal’on up out of his revelry. The man had stopped outside the cell door
and stood studying them as he absently jiggled his keys on their chain at his
belt.
“I’d let you out,” he whispered, “but
it wouldn’t do you any good. The Prime would kill you both rather than have you
fall into the Sandcor’s hands.” He nodded toward Delevy still sleeping in his
paws. “It ain’t right, what he did. She did all he asked of her and he still
turned on her.” He shook his head in disgust. “She deserves better.” The man
frowned. “I’ll bring you both some dinner soon.”
He turned and left. No need to
stay. He couldn’t understand Tal’on anyway. Only Delevy could hear him and make
since of what he said.
Tal’on looked down at the woman in
his arms. He had to admit it. He loved Delevy. He could not risk losing her.
He stoked his fire glands and
breathed a jet of fire onto the Sollen in his paw. It sang. It sang softly, but
louder than it had yesterday. He would continue to try. He had to make contact.
He needed help before the Valdare Prime could push him into battle with the
Sandcor.
*****
“Tal’on was impressionable,” Rudd’ard
explained to us. “He was young and very homesick.”
“When Valdare Prime threatened
Delevy, Tal’on went to war for them,” Mul’drak added. “He became a death that
descended on the Sandcor and could not be stopped.”
Rudd’ard leaned over and refilled
our bowls. “His scales protected him from most of the Sandcor’s weapons, but to
be sure, the Prime had a suit of armor built for him. The Valdare were
experimenting with metals for their space craft. They made Tal’on’s armor from
that material. It was light weight and did not impede his flight. He was almost
indestructible.
“The Valdare began to make
headway against the Sandcor for the first time in the history of many
generations. Sandcor people and lands fell before Tal’on and the Valdare troops
who followed him into battle.” Rudd’ard shook his wedged head. “He was death on
wings, which the Sandcor learned to run from rather than fight.”
“So he did learn to fly?” I
asked.
“Flying is like breathing to our
kind. He merely needed to have the opportunity and it became so.” Mul’drak
said. “In fact, he became an exceptional flier, learning to dodge the weapons
of the enemy.”
“And he never tried to ‘jump’
home?” Arr asked.
“He would not leave Delevy,” Rudd’ard
sighed. “The bonding they experienced during his stasis was too strong and his
love for her too deep.”
“But he kept working on the
Sollen,” Jake said.
“Indeed,” Rudd’ard and Mul’drak
confirmed almost in unison.
Rudd’ard patted the older dragon’s
head and Mul’drak licked his hand affectionately.
“Delevy talked their jailer into
bringing her a needle and thread. She tore off a bit of her garment and
fashioned a pocket on the underside of Tal’on’s armor for the Sollen to be kept
safe next to his heart,” Rudd’ard explained. “Even when he was away on long
campaigns he had it with him and he was able to work the stone each night, and
each night it grew stronger.
“Until finally one day, in the
midst of a battle between Valdare and Sandcor, Graf’tal and five other dragons
answered the Sollen’s call.”
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