Chapter 12-3

There was, indeed, a young Plainsman waiting for Almonihah outside the Shaman's hut. The Shaman passed the half-dragon off with another mysterious smile, then hobbled back into the hut. Almonihah's young guide (who seemed annoyingly awed by the half-dragon) led him to a small hut, then waited outside while the Ranger settled in—which consisted of him setting his pack down and unrolling his bedroll. His guide seemed surprised to see him done so quickly, but once he was sure Almonihah was truly ready, he led the half-dragon to a long, low structure, constructed in much the same fashion as the rest of the village.

Apparently, skipping welcoming ceremonies did not mean skipping the honorary feast for the hero. At least, Almonihah assumed the Plainsmen didn't gather together for a huge meal in this building every day. It looked like it wasn't quite ready yet, but the Chief was ready to greet his visitor again.

Almonihah found that he was right about feasts like this being out of the ordinary, but he was only partially right about it being for him. While much mention was made of his actions, he gradually figured out that this feast was traditional when a hunting group returned from a good hunt. So he tried to be polite, and talk without showing too much irritation at how many of them still seemed to view him as some sort of mystical spirit. And at having to be at a feast. Eating was all well and good, but Almonihah didn't really see the point of eating so much with so many people at the same time.

After eating—and talking until the sun was low—they went out to the large dirt circle in the middle of the village. There was now a large bonfire in the center of the circle, and many of the Plainsmen had already gathered around it. As Almonihah and the group he had come with sat around the perimeter of the circle, he noticed a few of the tribe members coming to the edge of the circle with drums and other objects he assumed were musical instruments.

Then some other Plainsmen came running into the circle. These ones... Almonihah had to struggle not to show some sign of his incredulous disbelief at their costumes. They were dressed in what he could only assume were costumes made to resemble different animals—deer, bison, wolves, lions, griffons, and others—complete with masks. It seemed that their entrance was some kind of a cue, because the musicians started playing, and then the costumed Plainsmen started dancing.

At first, all Almonihah could do was note that they somehow managed to get close to the fire without catching their costumes on fire while he tried to hide his opinion of them. After watching for a little while (and getting control of himself), however, he started to feel like there was something more to the dance. He watched more intently, trying to put his finger on it. It was like... that was it! There was a story to the dance!

Unfortunately, the realization hit him just as the dance was ending. He went over what he remembered, but couldn't quite put the pieces together. He grunted softly, a bit disappointed.

“You are displeased with the performance?”

Almonihah had to keep himself from jumping at the Shaman's question. He'd been watching the dance so intently that he'd forgotten that there was someone behind him.

A bit more roughly then he normally would have, the half-dragon admitted, “Just felt like I was just starting t' understand th' thing when 't ended.”

There was silence for a moment, until Almonihah turned to look at the Shaman and saw him nodding with that irritating smile on his face. “I am glad that you realized there was something to understand.”

Almonihah grunted again. He was getting tired of the Shaman and his infuriatingly mysterious smile.

He was also getting tired of thinking of him as “the Shaman”.

“What's your name?” Almonihah's question carried just a bit of an irritated growl.

If the Shaman noted the Ranger's irritation, he gave no indication of it. “I am called Owl Talon, young Almonihah.”

Almonihah nodded. That seemed to fit—the names he'd gotten from the Plainsmen tended to be animal-related like that.

He jerked his head towards the Chief. “What's his?”

“Our Chieftain is called Griffon Heart.” Owl Talon paused for a moment, then said, “It is not customary for either of us to be called by our given names, however.”

“'d noticed.”

The Chief had come to the center of the circle while they had been talking. Now he beckoned to the gathering and began to speak.

“Fellow tribesmen, as most of you know, we celebrate this evening not only a successful hunt, but also the rescue of two of our tribesmen by our honored guest, Almonihah Zrathanzon.” He gestured with one hand at the half-dragon, then continued, “Almonihah will be staying with us for a time, and we will extend to him the hospitality of our tribe in acknowledgement of our debt to him for the lives of our brothers.”

Almonihah simply crossed his arms and kept listening. Chief Griffon Heart talked for a fair amount of time, talking about various matters, praising the performers for their skill, and so forth. Towards the end, he mentioned that another hunting party would be leaving after the new moon, which if the Ranger remembered correctly, meant in a couple of weeks. He made a mental note to volunteer to go with them if they were headed towards the forest so he could teach a few of them not to walk into pit plants. Or blood vines. Or packs of fell-wolves.

The half-dragon noticed that people were starting to leave, and that Griffon Heart was walking towards him. He stood up to meet the Chieftain.

“You have been shown where you will stay, Almonihah Zrathanzon?” he asked. When Almonihah nodded, the Plainsman continued, “Then I will leave you to rest. If you wish, I would like to speak with you in the morning.”

Almonihah nodded again. Griffon Heart excused himself, and went off to his home. Looking around, the half-dragon decided he might as well do the same, and went off to the hut he was to sleep in.

There were walls around him. How had he ended up back in that cave? When had Galindakherithan hunted him down again? What...

Then Almonihah remembered. He was in the village of the Griffon Tribe, in the hut they'd given him to sleep in. Now that he was really awake, he could make out the smoke-hole in the roof of the hut, even though it was a cloudy, moonless night. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but it certainly hadn't been the whole night. Still, he didn't feel like he could fall asleep again. At least not until his heart stopped beating so fast.

Almonihah exited the hut, pushing aside the animal skin—a deer, if he wasn't mistaken—that served as the door. All was quiet in the village, except for the quiet movement of a few of the animals the tribe kept. Even more quietly, the Ranger slipped between the homes of the Plainsmen.

When he reached the edge of the village—not really all that far from the center, truth be told—the half-dragon noticed that there were actually a couple of tribesmen keeping watch over the village by night. It made sense—the Central Plains might not be as dangerous as the North Forest, but there were still plenty of things here that wouldn't mind helping themselves to a chicken... or a human.

Almonihah slipped easily past the sentries. Watchful they might be, but the Ranger had trained to sneak up on creatures much more keen-eared than a human, and on a night like this, remaining unseen hardly took any effort. He remained quiet until he was well away from the village, then stopped to take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The night would have been impenetrably dark to human eyes, but Almonihah could see the endless fields of grass extending outwards from him in all directions. In black and white, yes, and not for as far as in the day, but he could see them. Which made made it all the more odd that he'd mistaken his hut for that little room in Galindakherithan's lair. After spending a few minutes taking in the sight of the plains at night, he had the strange urge to just run. With a shrug, he broke into a trot, and then a steady, ground-eating run.

He didn't really think about much as he ran. He just enjoyed the feeling of the wind of his passage waving his frill back and forth, the earth beneath his boots, the freedom of being alone on the plains save for the animals, which he avoided without even alerting them to his presence.

His run took him on a wide, lazy circle back to the village. Keeping his sense of direction was something Zrathanzon had trained Almonihah in well. Soon enough, he had to slow down and try to slow his breathing, so as to not alert the sentries.

Again he was back in between the huts of the village. He had come back in from a different direction, however, so that the Shaman's hut lay between him and 'his' hut. As he approached, Almonihah noticed that there was actually a bit of light coming from the hut, and a wisp of smoke rose from the smoke-hole. Cautiously, the half-dragon started to slip past Owl Talon's doorway.

Just as he was level with it, the tip of a rather familiar staff poked out of the doorway and lifted the animal skin, revealing the old Shaman standing in front of the embers of his fire.

He had that smile again.

“Did you enjoy your run, young dragon?” Owl Talon asked quietly.

Almonihah looked at the old man incredulously. How...?

Recovering a bit, the half-dragon grunted, “Yeah.”

Still smiling, the Shaman nodded and said, “That is good.” Then he stretched, and added, yawning, “Well, these old bones are telling me that I should try to get the rest of the night's sleep that I woke up from. Rest well, young dragon.”

And with that, Owl Talon went back into his hut.

Still a bit off-balance, Almonihah stood staring at the animal skin that covered the hut's doorway for a few seconds before he shook himself a bit and went back to his bedroll. Maybe this whole thing was just a dream...

*************

Hmm... I think I may have to split this chapter up more. I've still got a lot of stuff that I was going to put in chapter 12 to go, and it's already several pages long. Well, we'll see.

Chapter 12-2

The half-dragon found it difficult to stand the superstitious awe with which he was treated while he waited for the Plainsmen to break camp, and even more difficult to put up with as he traveled with them. He wasn't sure why he was going with them, but... well, he didn't have anything better to do.

He was, however, quite glad when he could see the village they were heading to in the distance. Of course, that distance was fairly large, given his eyesight and how flat the plains were, but at least their destination was in sight. Hopefully at least this Chief fellow would be better about not calling him “Great Thunder Spirit” and stuff. The Hunt-Chief at least was just calling him Almonihah, so he had some hope for the Chief.

A couple of the Plainsmen had run ahead of the group to inform the village of their visitor, so Almonihah wasn't particularly surprised to see a group of people waiting to greet them. The leader had some kind of headdress made of beads and what the Ranger was somewhat surprised to note looked like griffon feathers. Given the meaning of the decoration the Hunt-Chief wore, he suspected that this Plainsman was the Chief.

His suspicion was confirmed when the Plainsman spoke. “Greetings, Almonihah Zrathanzon. You are welcome here in the village of the Griffon Tribe. You have done us a great service in saving the lives of two of our hunters. For this service we offer you the hospitality of our village.”

“Thanks,” Almonihah said as he took in the sight before him. The village was a humble affair, made mostly of low huts. There seemed to be little wood involved in their construction. Instead, most of the walls consisted of some kind of grass or brush, with only enough wood to make a frame over which these materials were spread. The Ranger found this rather odd, given that the forest was only a couple days' journey away.

The half-dragon realized the Plainsman Chief was still speaking. “Normally, we would have a ceremony to celebrate what you have done... but you outsiders rarely appreciates such things. Is not this so?”

It took Almonihah a moment to realize that was a question. “Yeah, I think we can skip th' ceremony part.”

The Chief nodded. “Then let us go to the Shaman. He wishes to see you. If you would, please follow me.”

Shrugging, the half-dragon followed the Chief to a large hut near what he thought was the center of the village. There seemed to be a large, clear area in front of it, which seemed like it had been pounded down by many feet. Interesting.

The inside of the hut would have been fairly dim to human eyes, though the hole in the roof—which Almonihah supposed was to let out smoke from the fire pit underneath—did let in a fair amount of light. There were a number of odd objects in the hut—feathers, teeth, and claws from various animals and monsters, drying herbs, oddly shaped rocks and pieces of wood.

The Shaman himself was an older Plainsman, with white hair and a face that looked worn by the elements. He was dressed in the same simple clothing—made mostly from the hides of the various animals that roamed the plains—as the rest of the Plainsmen, but he also wore some sort of talisman around his neck that involved items rather like those that adorned his hut. He was sitting cross-legged on an animal skin on the floor, with a staff across his legs. The staff was an interesting object—carved intricately in the shape of various animals, with matching feathers, claws, and teeth attached.

When the half-dragon entered the Shaman's hut, he looked up and said, in a soft, mildly raspy voice, “Ah, greetings, young dragon. I was hoping you would make your way here.”

For some reason the Shaman's words irritated Almonihah. “'m not a dragon. Just half.”

The Shaman smiled gently. “Of course... young dragon.”

The Ranger growled a bit, but decided the old man must be too senile to listen. That, or might be deaf. Or blind. His eyes did seem to have a bit of a milky look.

While Almonihah had been looking over the Shaman, the Shaman had been examining Almonihah. “You follow the Earth-Mother, do you not?”

Almonihah was a bit taken aback by the sudden question. “Earth-Mother?”

“The Forest Maiden, the Lady of the Plains... she has many names. Perhaps you would know her by the name of Naishia? That is the outsider name for her.”

The Ranger grunted in surprise. “Yeah, I do. How'd you know?”

The Shaman nodded, smiling again. “There is a... feeling about fellow followers of the Earth-Mother.” He paused for a moment, shifting his position a little bit, then continued, “We also reverence the Earth-Mother and her creation, but in a different way than you outsiders do, you will find.”

Almost unconsciously Almonihah found his curiosity rousing. “What d' you mean?”

The Shaman motioned for Almonihah to sit in the hut across from him. He did so, a corner of his mind noting the fact that the Plainsmen who had led him to the hut didn't follow him in.

Once his guest was settled, the Shaman spoke again. “There are many differences between our view of the world and that of the outsiders. Before I continue,” he held up a hand as if to forestall an interruption, even though Almonihah had no intention to do so, “I want you to know that part of the reason I wished to see you is because I love to learn of others. Now, where was I?”

He paused for a second, then said, “Ah, yes. How we differ from outsider followers of the Earth-Mother. We, unlike most outsiders, view all life as...” he paused for a moment again, “sacred would be the closest word for it. We view all animals and plants as... expressions of the Earth-Mother's divinity.” He paused again. “It is difficult to describe our view, but it permeates our lives.”

“Hmmm.” He was right—he didn't quite understand what he meant. He thought he got the idea of what the Shaman was getting at, but only the general idea.

“This is different from how you view things, is it not?”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause, as if the Shaman was waiting for an explanation. Eventually he asked, “How do you view things?”

The Ranger thought for a bit. “Well... I respect life. Don't kill anything 'f I don't need 't t' live. Try t' protect 't from things that aren't right...” he trailed off with a shrug.

There was silence again for a few seconds, then the Shaman asked, “So what are you planning to do after you leave us?”

There was a long stretch of silence before Almonihah finally answered. “I'm a Ranger. I was going down south t' help hold th' Line.”

There was something almost shrewd about the way the Shaman looked at Almonihah. “Perhaps you might stay a while with us first, to learn something of our ways?”

Almonihah almost said no before he stopped himself and thought. While the whole “Thunder Spirit” thing was annoying, the Plainsmen seemed like good people, and he was curious about their ways. Certainly they weren't like any other people he'd ever met. Not to mention that their hunters needed some help with not getting themselves killed if they were going into the forests.

“Yeah, might 's well.”

The Shaman smiled again. “Good. I look forward to speaking more with you.” He slowly got up to his feet, using the staff to help push himself up. “Now, I believe someone is waiting outside my home to show you the way to where you may stay during your time with us. Why don't we go out there and let him do his job?”

**********

So, a late-night Christmas present to all of my readers! Sorry that I've been a bit slow about posting things up recently. I'll try to finish this chapter and hopefully most of the next over the next week and a half or so when I'm not particularly busy.

This is an interesting period in Almonihah's life, but one that I'm kind of vague on the details of. I know that certain events happen and that he comes to certain realizations, but I don't really have a lot of the specifics on things like dialogue (typical of Almonihah not to tell me a lot). So it's been a bit hard getting this down in writing.

Chapter 12-1

Chapter 12: Spirit

Almonihah made his way south at a very brisk pace. No point hanging around where Galindakherithan might reconsider and decide there was some joke in Trollish he had to hear or something. The faster he was out of her territory, the better. The Ranger made a mental note to keep an eye out for other dragons' territorial markings in the future, though dragons were rather notorious for marking their territory in ways that could only be detected from the air. If they marked their territory at all.

He could tell that summer was in full swing in the North Forest. Which meant he'd been stuck in that cave for over a year. The realization didn't make him particularly happy.

It did feel good to be free again, though. Perhaps not good enough to make him forget the bitterness of captivity, but definitely good. Almonihah spent a couple of days just enjoying being able to go wherever he pleased, though his first brush with a manticore reminded him that just because he was free didn't mean he was free from danger. Fortunately, the only spike that hit him just barely drew blood. His arrow, however, drew considerably more blood from the manticore.

He neared the edge of the North Forest rather quickly, despite the fact that he slowed down quite a bit once he felt he was far enough away from the copper dragon's territory. Almonihah wasn't quite sure how he knew he was nearing the forest's edge—he just knew. Maybe it was just long familiarity with the forest or something.

It was then that he heard voices approaching from the south. The Ranger froze, brushing aside his idle speculations, and listened with his keen ears. There were two different voices, and they spoke for only a little while before they were silent again. Whoever they were, they were trying to move quietly, though they were doing a mediocre job of it. Almonihah did a much better job at sneaking towards them.

He soon caught sight of the pair. They were two human males, both with bows, arrows, and spears. They looked to be Plainsmen—their manner of dress and their heavily-tanned skin both indicated as much. That would explain their difficulty with traveling quietly through the forest, as Plainsmen usually lived... on the plains.

They were also walking straight towards a pit plant.

Quickly, Almonihah moved to a concealed position on the opposite side of the carnivorous plant and called out, “Stop.”

The two Plainsmen froze, looking around them cautiously for the source of the voice. As one of them opened his mouth to speak, Almonihah fired an arrow. It hit what looked to be a pile of leaves a few paces in front of them with a wet-sounding “thunk”. As it did, the “leaf pile” twitched, revealing for a moment a circular pattern of wedges... as well as giving a glimpse of the hole lined with acidic secretions that lay beneath.

One of the Plainsmen gasped a little as he realized how close to danger they had been. After a moment, he recovered from his astonishment and called out, “I thank you, stranger.”

He paused for a moment, and as he did, Almonihah stepped out of his hiding-place into plain view. Both of the Plainsmen gasped in astonishment and fell to their knees when they saw the half-dragon. The one who had spoken earlier then said, his voice trembling a little, “Great spirit, forgive us for not having given you proper respect earlier...”

“Stop that.” Disgust was plain in Almonihah's voice. “I'm no spirit. 'nd get up. That's ridiculous.” He gestured at their kneeling forms.

Hurriedly, the two rose to their feet. “Forgive us, spirit...”

“I told you I'm not a spirit,” Almonihah growled, making sure to speak clearly so they understood. He didn't think his Common had gotten that sloppy during his time with Galindakherithan, but it seemed like they hadn't understood him the first time.

“Yes, g...” the Plainsman floundered for a bit, then continued, “Uh... what would you have us call you?”

“By my name,” Almonihah replied, having to suppress the urge to make his disdain clearer. Then he realized he hadn't told them his name. “I'm Almonihah.”

There was silence for a moment. It seemed like the two Plainsmen were expecting him to say something more. Then it occurred to the half-dragon that humans usually had a last name. On a whim, he said, “Almonihah Zrathanzon.” That felt... right somehow.

“Almonihah Zrathanzon...” the Plainsman who had been quiet before said, carefully trying to pronounce the name like the half-dragon had.

Almonihah nodded in acknowledgement.

“Almonihah Zrathanzon,” the Plainsman tried out the name again, a bit more confidently, “We owe you blood-debt. Please, come to our camp and accept of our hospitality in token of our acknowledgement of our debt.”

It sounded to Almonihah like he was repeating something he'd memorized. But their camp was almost certainly to the south, and it would be kind of nice to get some respect after being pushed around by a dragon for a year. So he agreed. If this was what Zrathanzon had meant about Plainsmen having 'strange ideas' about half-dragons, he didn't mind them too much.

He did quickly get tired of the superstitious awe that both of them treated him with, and with how the one who had spoken first always had to keep himself from calling the half-dragon 'spirit'. He did get the other one to the point where he would actually call him just Almonihah, instead of Almonihah Zrathanzon, but it took almost the entire walk back to their camp. The other one... well, he was a lost cause.

Almonihah could see their camp as soon as they came to the edge of the forest. It was a little ways off, but it looked like it consisted of a small cluster of conical tents. He'd seen such camps from a distance before, and Zrathanzon had told him that they were long-term hunting camps. Apparently, during the spring and summer, the hunters of a tribe of Plainsmen would take these tents and spread out from their home village for a month or two at a time to bring down game to salt and bring back to their village. The preserved meat would help keep them fed through the winter.

One of the pair ran ahead a bit to tell the camp of their visitor. Most of the hunters were still out pursuing game, but the few that were in camp, along with those of their wives and children who had come with them, all came out to greet their visitor. If anything, they were worse about the whole superstitious awe thing than Almonihah's two guides. Some of them seemed quite terrified when he corrected them about calling him “great spirit” or “thunder spirit”, and it took the half-dragon a considerable amount of time and energy convincing them that he wasn't really angry at them for calling him something he didn't want to be called. He also got the impression that they still thought he was some sort of supernatural spirit creature. It was all very annoying.

He had just about decided that he'd had enough “great thunder spirit”'s when a small group of Plainsmen made their way from the other side of camp to the gathering around the Ranger. Their leader wore a necklace of claws and teeth from various dangerous creatures, which Almonihah took to be proof of his hunting prowess. The Ranger noted idly that he had killed all of the creatures whose claws and fangs adorned the Plainsman's necklace himself.

As soon as this Plainsman caught sight of the half-dragon, his face paled, and he fell to his knees. “Thunder spirit,” he began his voice trembling.

“I'm not some thunder spirit!” Almonihah interrupted, angrily. He wasn't about to let this guy start on the whole “great spirit” routine.

The Plainsman seemed nonplussed by this response. After a moment, he recovered enough to ask, “What are you, then?”

“'m what happens when a bronze dragon spends too much time 'n human form with a beautiful human sorceress,” Almonihah snapped, his frustration coming out in the bitterness of his response.

The Plainsman stared blankly at Almonihah. After a moment, Almonihah growled in frustration and elaborated.

“I'm a half-dragon. Half-bronze dragon, half-human.”

The Plainsman's stare didn't become any less blank. After a moment of silence, however, he apparently decided to simply drop the issue and asked, “How should I call you?”

“Almonihah Zrathanzon. But just call me Almonihah.”

The Plainsman seemed to be getting more used to the idea of his strange visitor. “Almonihah,” he tried the name out, doing a better job at it than most of the others had, “What brings you to our humble hunting camp?”

The Ranger simply nodded at one of the two hunters he had saved. The indicated hunter explained about what had happened, and the Plainsman with the necklace nodded.

“I see. It was right to bring him back here. You, and the tribe, owe him a debt.” The Plainsman with the necklace, who the other Plainsman had referred to as “Hunt-Chief”, turned back to Almonihah. “We are grateful for the lives of the two hunters that you have saved. You honor our camp. However, I fear that this humble camp cannot offer you much to repay our debt.”

“In three suns, we will strike camp and return to our village. There, we can thank you properly. There, our Chief and Shaman, who are much wiser than I, dwell. There, perhaps, we can begin to repay our debt to you.”

There was silence. All of the Plainsmen were looking expectantly at Almonihah. It made him feel just a bit uncomfortable.

Irritably, not quite wanting to agree to anything yet, the half-dragon asked, “Which way is it?”

The Hunt-Chief, accustomed by now to his unexpected guest asking unexpected questions, replied, “It is to the south and east, maybe four suns' distance from here.”

Almonihah shrugged. “Might 's well. Same way I was going anyways.”

************

So, Almonihah's finally free of Galindakherithan! And now he runs into the Plainsmen. This is an interesting part of his life. I must admit, though, that I know just about nothing about what life in a society like this would actually be like, so there will no doubt be... inaccuracies.

This is also posted over on the new site! Go check it out!

New site-Update!

Well, I've got the new site in working order, I think. Take a look and let me know what you think: Wordpress site

New Site!

So, for one of my Internet Programming class projects, we need to present on a web technology of our choice. One of the suggestions was Wordpress. I took one look at that and said, "Hey! I've been kind of unhappy with Blogspot in terms of what I can do to make it look the way I want, and Wordpress sounds like it's a lot more flexible. Let's do that!"

So right now, I'm working on creating a Wordpress.com site for Chronicles of Draezoln. For the foreseeable future, I'll probably keep updating both sites (when I update at all...), but at some point, I'll probably switch completely over. The site is draezoln.wordpress.com. It's still a work in progress, but I'll probably have the all of what I've written of the actual text of The Chainer's Legacy on there in a few days.

Chapter 11-3

The next morning went much as the last morning had. This time, however, when Galindakherithan went out to hunt, Almonihah carefully made his way out of the lair, nimbly stepping around the various wards etched into the cavern floors. He still had plenty of time when he finally emerged into the sunlight, but he didn't waste any time in getting under the cover of the forest.

The half-dragon stealthily slipped between the trees for over an hour, leaving the dragon's lair far behind him. Even after he felt fairly certain that he was out of sight of the lair, he kept to cover. No telling where Galindakherithan might be hunting.

Almonihah felt his heart rate pick up when he heard the sound of heavy wingbeats approaching. Quickly, he found a spot that could not be seen from the air and hid himself. The Ranger held perfectly still as the sound drew nearer, until it passed over him. He listened as the sound grew more distant... until suddenly, with a soft thud, it stopped. Then there was the sound of something large moving through the underbrush. Almonihah hardly even breathed as Galindakherithan came into view.

She was looking right at him.

I wondered how long it would take you to try to leave, she said smugly. I wasn't sure at first if you were the impatient type or the careful type. She sniffed disdainfully. I guessed right.

Almonihah resisted the urge to ask which one she had guessed, and settled for an angry glare. “Put some kind 'f locater spell on me.” Almonihah's question was more of a statement.

Of course. Galindakherithan seemed surprised that he would even suggest that she wouldn't do such a thing. Now then, I'd best carry you again. I wouldn't want you getting any funny ideas while walking back.

Almonihah had thought that being carried the last time was an uncomfortable experience, but he found that Galindakherithan had been gentle with him last time. This time, she gripped him uncomfortably tightly, and he felt each wingbeat jolting him. Fortunately it was a quick flight, but he still felt bruised and battered by the time the dragon set him down in her lair.

Now, then, I trust you'll find your way to your room while I go back out hunting? Galindakherithan said, then turn and took off again without waiting for an answer.

Almonihah picked himself up off the ground, suppressing a groan. He wasn't quite sure whether or not to be insulted that she wasn't even bothering to make sure he went in. Then he remembered that she had some kind of tracking magic on him, and decided that insulted probably wasn't the right response. Angry, yes. Resigned, eventually. But insulted, no.

He did make his way back to his room, just in case. It took him all of a minute to be bored out of his mind. He started pacing. That got boring pretty quickly, too. So he decided that the dragon hadn't told him to stay in his room, and went back out to the main lair area where there was more room to do some weapon drills.

Almonihah started to feel a little bit better as he worked through the familiar movements of his drills. He'd have to do this more often, if for nothing else than to forget for a little while that he was a prisoner. Not to mention he was going to need to work on keeping in shape if he was stuck here for a while.

You're not practicing to kill me, are you? Galindakherithan's voice made Almonihah jump.

Once he had recovered from his surprise, Almonihah turned to face her. The dragon was in human form, which didn't fully explain how she'd been able to sneak up on him. Probably more magic. “'m not that stupid,” Almonihah said.

Galindakherithan laughed. So you do admit to being somewhat stupid, then?

The half-dragon grunted in acknowledgement of her hit. He'd have to remember to beware her sense of humor at all times. It was bad enough when she was deliberately telling jokes.

After that, Almonihah resigned himself to being stuck in Galindakherithan's lair until she got bored with him. Or he learned enough Great Eagle for her to tell him a joke. Or until he went insane. Whichever she was going for.

Almonihah settled into a routine fairly quickly. The copper dragon would spend a couple hours on teaching him Great Eagle in the morning, then he'd drill while she hunted and did whatever else it was she did while she was gone, then she'd come back and teach him more Great Eagle. Sometimes she'd go to her library or study in the evenings, leaving Almonihah to figure out what else he could do with himself. It usually ended up being more weapon drills. He was making up new ones to keep himself entertained. He just regretted that there weren't really any good archery targets. Shooting his practice arrows at rocks would be a good way to not have practice arrows for long.

In time, Almonihah took to sitting at the edge of the lair for long periods, looking out on the world outside. Galindakherithan would often catch him at it, but at first, she said nothing. After several weeks, however, she finally told him he could go outside as long as he stayed within a mile of her lair, so the half-bronze dragon took to rambling around the woods around her lair. Save for the occasional patch of evergreens, most of the trees had already lost their leaves, with only a few clinging on to red or orange leaves. There was a pleasant chill in the air, not really enough to bother Almonihah, but enough for him to enjoy the difference.

As the weeks turned to months, Almonihah and Galindakherithan settled into a sort of unfriendly friendship. The copper dragon continued to make jokes at the half-dragon's expense, and the Ranger continued to see how lazily he could speak in the Common Tongue and still get the dragon to acknowledge she knew what he meant.

Sometime during the winter, perhaps because she felt a bit bad about her “guest” wandering around in the snow because he was bored, Galindakherithan allowed the half-dragon into her library. While books had never interested Almonihah much, he did know how to read, and it was something to do other than doing the same weapon drills over and over and walking the same mile of snowy forest over and over again.

Almonihah was rather surprised to find that the copper dragon had a fairly large collection of books. While several were on jokes, a fair number were on other topics—philosophy, magic, religion, even a text on draconic anatomy. All were full of marginal comments in a very fine hand, some in Elven, some in Common. The anatomy text was particularly heavily marked with rather disparaging comments, and the half-dragon recognized his “host”'s sense of humor.

Almonihah was even more surprised to find that he actually enjoyed reading. Not enough that he didn't keep in practice with his weapons and take plenty of walks outside, but he had read all of the books he was interested in by the time the snows had retreated up to the peaks of the mountains.

By this time, Almonihah was starting to feel fairly confident in his command of Great Eagle, and Galindakherithan was starting to (grudgingly) agree. The Ranger was starting to wonder if she was going to think of another excuse to keep him here or if he was finally going to be able to leave.

It was sometime late in the spring, or maybe early in the summer, when Galindakherithan finally said, in Great Eagle, Well, I think you're finally ready to hear my joke.

It took Almonihah a moment to fully appreciate what she was saying. She took his pause to be an expectant silence, and launched into the joke.

Once she was done, Almonihah snorted in amusement. She'd been waiting this long to tell him that? It didn't even make sense, even as a joke. Then he thought over it again, and realized he'd mistranslated part of it. He chuckled—just a bit—at his mistake, because it was kind of a funny error.

Ha! I knew you couldn't resist my jokes forever! Galindakherithan crowed (in Draconic). After a moment of silence, she said, a bit more quietly, Well, now that you've finally laughed at one of my jokes, you're free to gather your stuff and go whenever you'd like.

Almonihah blinked. She was really letting him go? It seemed like the world away from the lair was just a dream, it'd been so long since he'd been out there. Slowly, though, the realization that this was real sunk in.

He realized that it would probably be polite to say something to the copper dragon. Polite seemed like a good idea.

“Well...” he trailed off for a bit before thinking of what to say, “Thanks.”

Galindakherithan laughed a bit. Laconic as always, I see. Well, you are welcome. Do stop by again sometime if you're in the area. You are rather amusing company, even if you hardly ever laugh yourself.

“I'll keep that in mind,” the Ranger replied as he headed towards his room to pick up his stuff. He made a mental note to never come within a hundred miles of this place again.

******

So, it's been over a month, but I finished chapter 11! Huzzah! I'll try to be better about writing more often in the future, for my loyal readers' sakes.

Anyways, this was actually a fairly important period in Almonihah's life, and not just because he learned Great Eagle. I'm not quite sure I want to just tell you why, though. So just keep your eye out for reasons why.

Chapter 11-2

You will stay here during your time with me, Galindakherithan said, waving imperiously at the room. Feel free to find a place for your things. I will come back for you shortly.

And with that, she walked out and shut the door.

Almonihah looked around the room, growled, and paced around for a bit. After a moment, he decided he might as well take his pack off. He leaned it against the wardrobe, then took a seat on the bed. He was startled so much when he started to sink into it that he jumped back up on his feet. He glared at it, already feeling a little bit ridiculous. He may have been sleeping on a bedroll on the ground for years now, but he had slept in a real bed in inns a few times. Muttering to himself darkly, he sat back down on the bed and thought.

It was obvious that he couldn't escape while Galindakherithan was around. If he was lucky, she wasn't serious about this whole teaching him Great Eagle thing, and she'd let him go tomorrow after she felt she'd made her point. If not... well, she had to leave to hunt sometime. While he was more accustomed to hiding from lesser (and stupider) predators than dragons, he was certain he could disappear well enough once he reached the forest outside that the copper dragon wouldn't be able to track him. He'd be good for a day or two while he observed her habits, but the next day, when the time was right...

His keen ears picked up the sound of footsteps outside the door after spending a while ruminating. He quickly sat up from the bed as the doorknob turned.

Galindakherithan, again in human form, opened the door. I trust you've had sufficient time now to settle in... she said, her words half-question, half-statement. Her eyes flicked to the pack leaning against the wardrobe. When she looked back at Almonihah, there seemed to be a hint of disapproval in her gaze.

Almonihah nodded. Galindakherithan waited for a moment, but when it became clear that the half-dragon had nothing to say, she said, Well, why don't you come out here now so we can start your first lesson?

The Ranger grunted in acquiescence as he walked to join Galindakherithan in the hall. She led him back towards the main chamber of her lair. Once they were out of the narrower part of the tunnel, she shifted back to her dragon form.

Much better, she said as she stretched out her legs and wings. I'll never understand how you manage to live your whole lives cooped up in your little bodies.

Almonihah's only response was another grunt.

Galindakherithan taught Almonihah the basics of Great Eagle for the rest of the day. Despite how much he hated the fact that he was being forced to do it, he had to admit that he almost enjoyed it. He was rather proud of how many languages he knew and how proficient he was at learning new ones.

Not bad... for only being half dragon. Galindakherithan said at the end of their session. I guess you inherited a bit of dragonkind's vocal flexibility. Most humans can't even make the sounds required to speak Great Eagle.

Almonihah just grunted again. He wasn't quite sure how much she was actually complimenting him. He found her attitude towards him and his half-dragon status... well, he wasn't quite sure what to think of it yet. The Ranger sincerely hoped that he wouldn't have the time to figure it out.

The copper dragon interrupted his thoughts. Well, it's time for me to go out and hunt. Do be a dear and don't try to run away or go anywhere I've told you not to.

Almonihah's response was a snort and a nod. He knew better than to touch a dragon's things, and as for running away, he needed a bit more information before he tried that.

Seemingly satisfied by her “guest's” response, Galindakherithan made her way back out of the lair. Almonihah stood for a little while in the main chamber, then decided to look around some more. He started with the main lair chamber, where he already was. He explored around, noting the subtle differences in slope in the cavern's floor, the interesting formations in the corners of the chamber where the dragon hadn't destroyed them, and the small grooves and smooth areas made by the daily habits of Galindakherithan. After a couple of hours, he felt he knew the room almost as well as its resident did.

And after that, he felt quite bored.

He didn't quite dare study the other rooms in the kind of detail he'd studied this room, as the other cave chambers were closer to the entrance—which would hardly look good if Galindakherithan flew back in while he was studying them. And his room and the hallway... well, he suspected that studying them would be at least as boring as sitting on his bed doing nothing.

When Galindakherithan returned, the half-dragon was pacing about the main chamber of her lair like a caged beast. The copper dragon observed him with amusement as he turned to face her. Almonihah looked at her for a moment before speaking.

“Took you long enough.”

That is hardly an appropriate way to welcome a dragon back to her lair, she replied, her voice and manner oozing with mock majesty.

Almonihah replied with his characteristic grunt.

Galindakherithan shook her head a bit, chuckling deep in her chest. For such a seemingly humorless fellow, you do have quite a number of amusing quirks.

The half-bronze dragon didn't deign to respond.

The remainder of the day was spent on more lessons in Great Eagle. Once it was night (as far as he could guess from so deep inside of the lair), the copper dragon ushered her “guest” off to his room.

The next day dawned bright and clear... not that it mattered to Almonihah, deep in the mountain. He was already awake when his hostess came to awaken him. If Galindakherithan was surprised at all by this, she didn't comment on it. She did, however, tell him to come out for some breakfast. The meal consisted of some roasted meat, as well as various nuts and berries. Almonihah wondered when she'd gotten the food, but decided not to ask.

Lessons came after breakfast. They seemed much more intense than the day before, as if the copper dragon had decided that her pupil could learn at a much more rapid pace than she had first thought. The increased pace of his lessons didn't bother Almonihah, as he actually enjoyed exercising his talent for languages... not that he would admit it to Galindakherithan. He had a feeling that she knew about what he was trying to hide, though.

The dragon left after several hours of teaching Great Eagle, and Almonihah quickly went to work scouting the front two chambers of the lair. Unlike in her nest chamber, he was looking for something in particular this time. Most dragons were skilled in sorcery, and often used magic to guard their lairs with wards of some type. Hopefully they'd be more to keep things out than in, but he'd still rather know they were there.

It didn't take him long to spot one. Near the tunnel leading further into the lair, there was a strange pattern etched slightly into the stone. While the Ranger couldn't make any sense of it, he noted its location for future reference.

He spotted several more in that chamber, and even more in the entrance chamber. Once he was fairly certain he knew where they all were, he went back to the main chamber to think. If he'd really seen all of them, and if she stayed out hunting as long as yesterday...

He had a fairly good idea of what he wanted to do by the time his “host” returned. She had, indeed, stayed out about the same amount of time as yesterday. Good.

I trust you've been keeping yourself entertained, Almonihah? The dragon's voice made it half-statement, half-question.

The half-dragon's response was a combination of a shrug and a grunt. I've been looking around. I haven't been on the inside of a dragon lair before.

And what do you think? Galindakherithan's tone seemed to imply that she already knew he was impressed.

I prefer the woods, was Almonihah's blunt reply.

The dragon looked at her guest in shock, as if unable to believe that the Ranger would say such a thing to her face. After a moment, though, her expression smoothed into a smile.

You probably think you're clever, don't you? Trying to get me angry and have me throw you out into the woods, aren't you?Well, I think it's time for some more lessons. You're not going anywhere until you hear my joke in Great Eagle.

Almonihah suppressed a groan as he moved to the place she indicated for him to sit. Hopefully he hadn't just made it harder to escape...

**************************

So... it's been over a month. School happened. It's getting better.

Anyways, this chapter has been kind of fun to write. Almonihah didn't enjoy it, but it's fun from Galindakherithan's point of view. Really, though, it serves to reveal more of Almonihah's character (as well as give a glimpse into what at least one Draezolnian dragon is like), so it's not just for fun. It is fun, though.

Chapter 11-1

Chapter 11: Captive

Almonihah was walking across a clearing a couple of days later when he noticed something large flying towards him. As he looked more closely at it, he could make out the silhouette of a dragon. He waited tensely as it approached until he could make out the color of its scales. Copper. Almonihah relaxed a bit. It was a metallic dragon, so it probably wasn't hostile. Then he thought back to his ruminations on the mountain and snorted in amusement. Maybe he would get an opportunity to find out about a dragon's lifestyle sooner than he had thought.

He stood in the clearing as the dragon flew down and made a gentle landing a few yards from him. She—he could tell now that the dragon was female—was a middle-sized adult copper dragon, probably two or three hundred years old. She looked to be about forty feet long from nose to the tip of her tail. She looked at him down her snout.

Well, what have we here? Her voice was pleasant, even when speaking Draconic, and not as loud as one would expect from a creature of her size. A half-bronze, if I'm not mistaken?

Almonihah opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a coughing fit. How long had it been since he had last spoken out loud? After he recovered, he responded with a simple Draconic, Yes.

The dragon seemed amused. Such a lot of effort to say so little, wasn't it, little half-dragon? She moved her head down to be more on his level, the scales on her sinuous neck glinting in the sunlight as she moved. I hope you don't have that much trouble every time you talk.

Almonihah did not appreciate the amusement in her voice. Not usually, he growled.

Oh, my. You are a grumpy one, aren't you? She lifted her head a little bit, a grin playing across her lips. I know just what you need. Have you heard the one about the bar?

Almonihah grunted noncommittally, but inwardly he was incredulous. Was this dragon honestly going to start telling him jokes?

The dragon didn't seem to care about her audience's lack of enthusiasm. This is a good one. It will cheer you right up! It only works in Common though. Then she said in Common, “So, two men walked into a bar... and the dwarf walked under.”

Almonihah simply stood, his arms folded. The copper dragon waited expectantly for a few moments, then sighed.

I see. Tough audience. Well, I know one that would make a rock laugh. Have you...

I am sorry, but I have to go now, Almonihah said, struggling to be polite to her. His former curiosity about dragon lifestyles had completely evaporated. There was no way he was going to sit here and listen to her tell jokes, even if she was several times his size.

Almonihah started to walk away until the dragon slammed her claws down on the ground in front of him. I insist! she growled as her head followed her claw to get uncomfortably close to the half-dragon's face. He could smell the acrid scent of acid on her breath. Apparently she was rather serious about her jokes.

After a few moments, the copper dragon relaxed and pulled her claw and head back to a more comfortable distance. I trust you understand me now. Now then, where was I? Oh yes, I was about to tell the one about the dwarf and the pickle barrel...

The sun was low on the horizon when the dragon finally stretched and said, I don't believe I've ever had such a touch audience.

Almonihah was still standing with his arms crossed. He'd shifted around some to keep his legs from falling to sleep, but he hadn't moved far. He wasn't taking any chances with those claws. Of course, neither had he laughed at any of her jokes.

It is getting rather late, isn't it? The dragon said, then continued without waiting for an answer, I guess there's only time for one more. You wouldn't happen to know Great Eagle, would you?

No, Almonihah replied.

Hm... it only makes sense in Great Eagle. Well, I guess there's nothing else to do but take you back to my lair and teach you Great Eagle.

“What?” Almonihah was so surprised that he switched back to the Common Tongue without even thinking about it. “I am not...”

I insist. The dragon's tone was still pleasant, but Almonihah remembered how she had acted the last time she had said those words. He had a feeling he didn't have much choice about this.

The dragon looked him up and down. It's a pity you weren't born with wings.

Almonihah suppressed a flinch at those words. If she only knew how many times he'd wished he had...

I guess I'll just have to carry you back myself. Hold still.

Almonihah froze as she reached for him with one clawed foot. Gently, she closed her claws around him and picked him up off the ground. Then she leaped into the air with a powerful downbeat of her wings and started flying northwest.

Almonihah found that being carried was a much less comfortable way to fly than riding. Not only was the dragon's firm grip on him rather uncomfortable, he could also see just how far from the ground they were getting. While he didn't think himself a coward, seeing that much empty air below him with nothing but a dragon's claw to hold him up made him a bit nervous. At least he couldn't sweat.

Well, since you're going to be my guest, I suppose I should tell you my name, the dragon said, her voice carrying clearly despite the wind whipping by. I am Galindakherithan. And what is your name, half-bronze?

“Almonihah,” the Ranger called back, almost yelling to make sure he was heard.

Almonihah, Galindakherithan repeated, her voice thoughtful. An odd name... it's not from the Common Tongue, nor is it Draconic...and it's definitely not Elven or Dwarven... maybe it's Ancient Draconic?

There was an expectant pause. After a while, Almonihah guessed she was waiting for him to say something.

I... don't know, he admitted.

What, your father never told you?

He died first. Almonihah's response was as much growl as yell.

Galindakherithan was silent for a while. Eventually she changed the subject. So just what brought a young half-dragon like yourself to be wandering about in my territory?

I am a Ranger, Almonihah replied.

After waiting a bit for him to elaborate, the dragon asked, Aren't Rangers usually down by the Madlands?

I'm not, was Almonihah's reply.

Well, I could tell that. Galindakherithan's was rather sarcastic. After a moment's pause, to give the half-dragon an opportunity to explain himself, the copper dragon said, So, in other words, you wander around other people's territories.

Almonihah snorted, but didn't say anything. He felt as much as saw her shake her head.

You half-dragon types... she said, then chuckled herself. As if I would know. I must admit that you're the first one I've met.

Almonihah grunted. I am not surprised by that, he said.

There are not that many of you, are there? Galindakherithan asked, though the question seemed rhetorical. As if to confirm the impression, she spoke again before he had a chance to respond. Here we are!

Almonihah looked ahead. They were nearing a cliff face on one of the mountains of the Stormpeaks. As he looked closer, he did indeed see a large opening in the cliff, though it was partially screened by trees that came up to just before the cave mouth. Galindakherithan slowed as she approached it, then came down gently to a landing in the small clearing in front of the cave mouth.

Now then, you know better than to try to run when I put you down, right?

Almonihah hated the patronizing tone in the dragon's voice, so he responded in Common. “Yeah.”

Galindakherithan set her half-dragon 'guest' down. After waiting for a couple of seconds to make sure he didn't decide to try running despite her warning, she started walking towards the cave opening.

Come along then, Almonihah.

Almonihah grunted and followed her.

Galindakherithan's lair seemed to consist of a series of interconnected caverns. The first, where they entered, was wide, but fairly shallow, with a narrower tunnel in the back leading deeper into the lair. Despite the smaller size of the tunnel, the copper dragon fit in it with plenty of room to spare—which she might well need in a few centuries, if she continued living in this lair.

They next passed through a large cavern with a high ceiling. Galindakherithan took a rather winding path through it.

Just some things here to discourage unwanted guests while I'm out hunting, the dragon said over her shoulder as she turned yet again to go across the chamber instead of towards the opening in the back that Almonihah could dimly see.

The next cavern looked to be the one the dragon used to sleep in. There was a shallow depression on one side of the chamber which looked to be rather scratched up that Almonihah suspected was the copper dragon's nest. He was not surprised to see that her hoard was not here. Zrathanzon had said that the legends about dragons sleeping on their gold were false.

Don't even try to go down there, Galindakherithan said, pointing towards another tunnel opening in the right side of the cavern that was a few feet above the floor. Then she pointed at another, smaller opening in the other side of the cavern. Down there is where you'll be staying. Let me show you to your room.

She started walking towards the opening on all fours, with Almonihah following. After a little while, the tunnel began to narrow quickly.

The copper dragon waved Almonihah on. I'll be along in just a moment, half-dragon.

With another acknowledging grunt, the Ranger passed his hostess and walked further down the tunnel. He heard Galindakherithan mutter something behind him, turned his head to look at her, but saw only a tall human woman in a silvery-colored dress.

Almonihah seemed unsurprised. “Thought you could do that,” he said, then turned back and continued onwards.

You really are no fun, the woman said in Draconic, with a bit of a playful pout in her voice.

“Be a lot more convincing 'f you didn't speak in Draconic,” Almonihah replied.

“Human is such a dull language,” the shape-changed dragon said airily in Common. “Draconic really has much more power to it.”

Almonihah's only response was a snort.

The tunnel dead-ended in an unusually smooth, flat wall with a door in it. There was another door in the wall of the tunnel on either side, also in suspiciously flat walls. Almonihah noted that they didn't look to have been worked with tools, which led him to conclude that someone—probably Galindakherithan—had used magic to shape the surrounding stone and then installed doors in the resulting walls.

Galindakherithan walked around Almonihah and pointed at the door in the left wall. This will be your room, she said, speaking in Draconic again, then indicated the other two doors. The middle door is my studio, and the right one is my library. You should know that both of those doors have traps on them—another little deterrent for unwanted guests. I would suggest that you not touch either of them.

Almonihah nodded in understanding. Once the human-shape dragon was satisfied he understood, she opened the door to his room and walked in, motioning for the half-dragon to follow. The room was fairly large, with a wardrobe, a large bed, and various other furnishings. All of the walls were straight and flat, like something that had been built by men, but with none of the tool marks that would usually accompany such work.

*************************'

Yes, Almonihah was just taken prisoner by a dragon because he wouldn't laugh at her jokes. Dragons can be funny creatures sometimes... but Almonihah doesn't think this is funny.

Note how Almonihah's speech is different in Draconic. Draconic doesn't lend itself to the kinds of contractions and dropped syllables (or words) that Almonihah is fond of in the Common Tongue.