048.01
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.
048.02
“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.”
048.03
Tal’on was being assaulted from all sides on the battlefield. Sandcor troops surrounded him. They were doing their best to overwhelm the young dragon with numbers, because it was obvious their weapons were of little use to them. The ground shook beneath the dragon’s feet with the explosions of their extensive arsenal. Smoke and dirt was thick enough in the air it made it difficult to breathe.
Tal’on was fighting one of the most violent battles of his short career with the Valdare. The Sandcor were making a final stand in the valley before the canyon, which led into their capital. They were determined to stop the monster once and for all. They charged at Tal’on as he fought tooth and claw against them. A swipe of his paw and three men fell before him. A sweep of his wing and several more challengers were knocked to the ground. He was relentless as the Sandcor continued to pile up on him. They had formed a battle line against the Valdare, so they could not assist their ‘number one’ weapon, Tal’on.
Tal’on readied his fire glands, but the Sandcor had met him in battle before. They knew about his fire breathing ability and they were ready this time. They launched several heavy metal nets at his head. One fell short, one Tal’on swiped out of the air, but the third, from behind him, fell over his head. Brave Sandcor Soldiers rushed forward and grabbed the lines from the net pulling Tal’on’s head down. Before he could resist his muzzle was wrapped and sealed shut.
As hard as Tal’on fought there were too many of the Sandcor. They swarmed over him like ants over a dead carcass. Lines were thrown over him and the ends staked down, pinning him to the ground.
It was at this point that Graf’tal, Ere’lee, Bel’lar, Cras’mul and Haf’nad appeared at the edge of the battlefield. The five dragons were all old enough, and well traveled enough, to know what humans were and recognize what was happening.
They saw what they could hardly recognize as Tal’on in the middle of the field. Over his long absence from his kin he had not only experienced stasis, he had also matured into a full grown dragon. But, he was a dragon in trouble.
The five older dragons did not know the difference between Valdare and Sandcor. They only knew they had finally found Tal’on and they intended to take him home. With fire, claws and teeth they barged into the battle to free the young dragon. They killed everyone who came between the youngling and them.
Tal’on saw his fellow dragons and would have called to them except his muzzle was sealed shut with the net tightly wrapped around it. His eyes filled with grateful tears as he saw Graf’tal level a path to his side. His huge paws and wings took out lines of both Valdare and Sandcor troops as he bullied his way to his youngling’s side.
Graf’tal was the first to reach Tal’on. His massive claws sliced through the ropes that held Tal’on to the ground. He plowed through the Sandcor hanging from the lines holding the net in place over the young dragon’s head. He freed his head of the net with strategically placed tooth and claw. Graf’tal did not know the collar Tal’on wore was not part of the enemy’s restraint, so he took his massive, wickedly sharp claws, hooked them under the collar and slit it in two. Tal’on had not even tried to do this for fear of it exploding or the Prime taking vengeance on Delevy if he tried. Now it was done in a moment with no turning back.
“We must go,” Graf’tal called to Tal’on. “We will jump with you.” Graf’tal roared to the other dragons to follow. “Jump.”
Tal’on shook his head even as he reached out to kill yet another Sandcor who still chose battle over retreat.
“I can’t,” he told his Great. “There is someone here I must see safely free first.”
“Where are they?” Graf’tal asked, as he stood among the many dead and dying troops.
The other dragons had wreaked havoc while Graf’tal freed his youngling. The battlefield ran red with the blood of both Valdare and Sandcor.
“Not far,” Tal’on said. “We can fly there in less time than it would take to get from the nest site to the shore at home.
“Then we can jump even quicker,” Graf’tal answered. “We are leaving,” he called to the other dragons. “Tal’on will lead.”
“I haven’t jumped since I saw you last,” Tal’on said hesitantly. “I am not sure I can.”
“Of course you can,” Graf’tal scoffed. “You were one of my best jump students.”
He placed a reassuring wing over Tal’on’s battered scales. The youngling was a mess even though he wore some type of protective gear over his torso.
“Think of the place where you want to be,” he coached. “Picture it and we will follow.”
“I don’t want to get lost again.”
Tal’on could almost hear the fear in his own voice. He finally had his Great once more at his side. He was going to go home. He was going to be able to leave this wretched place. He didn’t want to misstep.
“I won’t let you, my son,” Graf’tal said. “I am here, at your side. Nothing will separate us again.”
Tal’on swallowed the lump in his throat. He pictured the courtyard at the top of the steps which led to the cell below holding Delevy and he jumped.
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