Chapter 5: Stones

            It was odd to be back in this room and it was only when I laid out on the bed that I realised how tired my body felt. My legs suddenly became like lead and my eyes seemed just as heavy; not long after, I was snoozing away on top of the sheets. I dreamt over much of being in the Yok Hills again and the old dragons that I met; it was hard to imagine the real impression they gave when you were so near to them. Their magnificence and stature was something you could only comprehend when you were with them.

            Flickering my eyes open, I woke up in a groggy haze and put my hand over where my pendant lay on my skin under my top. Looking at the window, I saw it was night time but couldn’t be sure of which night it was. I could have slept for a few hours or well over a day. There was a short rap, on the door and it creaked open (unfortunately there was no lock) and Ky poked his head through.

            ‘Oh, you’re awake. I knocked earlier but you were totally out of it,’ he said.

            Sitting up and rubbing my eyes, I shuffled my feet on the floor. ‘Yeh, and I still feel tired. Did you want something?’

            He shook his head and stepped in but stayed close to the open door. ‘Not really, just to see how you were or are rather.’ He sounded very odd. ‘Well, really I was wondering why you even bothered to come here,’ he confessed.

            ‘Really? Well, that’s for me to know and...’ I stood up and walked over towards him. ‘For you to find out, if you’re lucky enough to.’ Pushing him out the door, I poked my head round it and smiled at him. ‘But for now, I want to sleep so I’ll see you later, maybe.’

            We did see each other later but half way through the next day. I woke up in the same fashion as the night before and my stomach was empty that I felt sick; it would easily subside the sooner I had something to eat. It was when I headed downstairs that I bumped into Ky again. He was limping but I didn’t bother asking why as he would just give me some excuse or change the subject.

            After breakfast, I took Aspen from the trough and jumped into his saddle as he began to trot off out of town; not that I expected anything else, Ky was soon with us, riding on Murtal. It was an odd sensation, having him following me around nearly everywhere all day and even when I headed out of town to see Frain.

            When we reached him, the purple dragon looked very satisfied and pleased with himself. It didn’t take long for me to spot the huge pile of fish he had spent the day catching and was now flicking them into the air with his tail and snapping his mouth around them. Although he hadn’t shown it, when we stopped he showed no sign that he had seen us but spoke so that I could tell.

            ‘You took your time long enough. Are we leaving soon?’ he asked, throwing another fish in the air and almost missed it.

            ‘Hmm, no, we aren’t. Why?’ I asked him but he remained silent. ‘I see you’ve been busy. No deer around?’ He swung his head signing his disapproval of there being no woodland.

            All the while, Ky sat on Murtal and neither of them moved; Murtal was a little twitchy being this close to Frain but then again she didn’t spend every day in the same vicinity as one.

            ‘You might find some further to the west,’ Ky commented. ‘There is a small wood or forest there.’ As he spoke, I remembered myself that there indeed was an unnamed forest; Doran, Hydra, Frain and I had all passed it whilst we searched for the five eggs we had saved. Frain probably remembered; it would just be the distance that he didn’t want to travel without me.

            ‘Yes, though I will not go there,’ Frain grumbled. ‘It is too far.’

            ‘Too far for a dragon? Hardly.’ Frain roared at him and had jumped to his feet; Ky’s insult had hit a nerve.

            Pulling on the reins, I turned Aspen around. ‘You shouldn’t insult him like that, it will get you into trouble one of these days,’ I warned him.

            ‘In case you haven’t noticed, I’m always in some kind of trouble. Besides, I’m sure Frain wouldn’t hurt anyone while you are near.’

            There was a sharp huff behind me. ‘I could kill you easily if I wanted to, with or without her permission,’ Frain threatened.

            Secretly, I think Frain and I believed that that was not entirely true. He would indeed listen to me but I suppose it depended on how deep the offence cut.

            ‘When you two have quite finished insulting each other. We need to get going now, Frain. You can do as you want.’ I meant that Ky and I would be going but Ky didn’t hear it that way.

            ‘Do you have to go?’ my friend complained. ‘You haven’t been here very long and most of that you spent sleeping.’

            Aspen was now trotting towards Itra and Frain was gliding close by. ‘No, I meant we were going. It was Frain I was talking to.’

            ‘Oooh.’ And he kept quiet until we reached the fish market.

            We had tied our horses near a small stables and walked about; it was a busy day and I almost lost him a few times among the crowd. After spending all those years in Dracona and getting used to not being around too many people at any one time, it was quite difficult for me to relax and not get angry if someone bumped into me. In my head, I had no doubt that they might give me a bit of a clear path if they saw my shoulder but, before I had left home, Doran had reminded that (even in the nearest towns) it was always best to keep it covered.

            It was also a good thing that I did as it was a rather breezy day and there was what looked like rain clouds blowing in from the south. Ky had never seen my tattoo and, knowing he had spent a lot of his time around Tamers, I wondered if he knew of these marks. Not intending to ask or show him, I made my way in and out of the people around me with him keeping close at hand. He was pushed into me a few times by misjudging where someone was behind him; when he did, I smiled at him and then looked away before he spotted me blushing.

            I did like Ky; it was just hard to tell (even after yesterday) if he liked me; yet either way, there was no point making something of it as it would never work. Pushing that aside, I carried on and we soon ended up back where we started. Murtal had her ears drawn back and was nipping at Aspen’s muzzle whenever he tried to smell over her coat. Horses could be very odd at times and I had to lead him off to leave Ky with Murtal.

*****

            It was whilst lying in bed that night, that I wondered where Ky might be now. Somehow, I filled up with my stubborn curiosity so I got out of bed and went to knock on his door. He opened it and looked at me a little confused.

            ‘Hello,’ he said simply.

            ‘Hello,’ I said back. ‘I was just wondering if you were busy.’ As I spoke, I didn’t look at him as I knew I would blush without the need for it.

            There was a small smile on his lips when I did eventually look up. ‘Not busy; not when I’m home. Do you want to come in?’ he offered.

            Thinking it might not be such a good idea, I shook my head and tried to give him some excuse. ‘Erm, no, I really should get some more sleep.’

            ‘Hehe, nice try. You can’t be tired after all the sleep you got last night. I won’t try anything again, I promise. Anyway, you haven’t seen my room.’ He opened the door wider and, shuffling my eyes, I decided it would be fine and went in after him.

            His room wasn’t as empty as my own, obviously as he lived here but it still wasn’t what I had thought. He had a small desk in one corner and a single bed tucked into another. There were a few shelves with random looking objects of what he had probably collected. Next to the wardrobe, there was a bookshelf and it had a lot of books on it. I hadn’t known much about Ky’s private life but there were a few things I could figure out from all this.

            ‘It’s quite tidy in here for once...’ He quietened as he spoke when he realised I wasn’t really listening. I had stepped over to the books and ran my fingers along a few rows of them; some looked very old and others not so much but it was nice to see that someone else appreciated a load of bound paper sheets.

            There was a creak behind me and I looked over my shoulder but it was only from Ky sitting down on his bed. I stepped over to the shelves at that point and when I looked at the first thing on the lowest one, there was a strange familiarity fizzing through my head. It looked like a curved ivory horn but I definitely remembered the look of one of these. It wasn’t a horn at all and it most certainly wasn’t ivory.

            What I was looking at was in fact a dragon’s claw. It had the flat underside and then the curved top surface. The tip was much darker and even as I looked at it now, it still looked very sharp. ‘Ky, can I have a look at this?’ I asked, pointing at the claw.

            ‘You don’t need to ask. Yes, you can but it’s only a claw to me.’

            I gingerly picked it up and rested it on my left palm. It might only be a claw to him but it meant more to me than just a trinket. ‘How did you get it?’ I asked still looking around the bone with my eyes.

            Out of the corner of my eye, I saw he sat up and crossed his legs. ‘It was given to me. I never really thought much of it until I grew up.’ As he answered me, I looked sideways at him and listened while twiddling the claw in my hands.

            Placing it back, I looked along the shelf but the other bits and bobs didn’t catch my eye all that much. There were a few interesting pieces of stone that had glimmering speckles in them and then I came across something else that did catch my attention. It was very sparkly and I couldn’t help but pick it up without asking and hold it in between my index finger and thumb. It had one smoothed side and the other seemed like it had either been carved or shattered (it was hard to tell). I had always liked shiny things like polished metals and jewels and this one was ever so clear.

            ‘This is pretty,’ I commented. ‘Where is this from?’

            Ky shuffled along his bed and looked at the diamond or crystal that I was holding. ‘Oh, I found that when I went to Niz one day. I never really figured out what it might be other than a diamond. Yet this one seems too perfect to have been mined.’

            There was only one other gem that I had seen that this would come close to. I reached for the chain around my neck and pulled out the jewelled necklace that was a precious, priceless gift. The jet black gem set in the centre was just the same size as the diamond in my left hand.

            ‘I think I know what it really is but I wouldn’t know for sure,’ I commented.

            Things suddenly got a little bit more interesting between us. He saw the metal pendant that I held and became rather drawn to it. ‘What is that?’ he asked, kneeling on the end of his bed and draped the chain over his fingers so he could see it better.

            ‘Like your claw, it was given to me too but not too long ago. I keep it hidden because I know someone might see it and try to steal it. It’s much too valuable for me to lose.’

            That didn’t really answer his question as to what it was. ‘Who gave it you?’ There was a tone in his voice which I wasn’t familiar with but nonetheless could read right through.

            ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,’ I said, sounding rather cliché.

            He let go of the chain and started mumbling to himself. Walking over to the bookshelves, he looked among them. ‘Why don’t you divulge it with me? I’ve just remembered something.’

            I did think about it for a moment as he flicked open one of his books and then decided that it wouldn’t do any harm if he knew. There were certain bits of information that I kept completely secret such as where the ancient dragons lived. ‘They gave me this for helping save those few eggs,’ I finished, solemnly looking at the jewels I wore again. ‘What do you think you remember?’

            He clambered onto his bed and crossed his legs and set a different book down on his lap. It was quite a thick book but the pages were about half the size as the one in mine still safe in Dracona. He reached a certain page and I could tell it was the right one as he almost dove his head right into it. ‘This is what I thought it might be but I had never seen another to be certain.’ He turned the book and held it up for me to take it and see the page.

            Absent-mindedly, I sat down next to him on the bed but perched more than sat with my legs eagerly dangling over the side. ‘I haven’t been told anything about such things.’ There, on the page, were similar shaped crystals that resembled those on my necklace.

            ‘It tells you in there the reason why. Here.’ And I handed him the book and then listened intently as he read from it. ‘These stones are only made by a special magical breath that dragons use. There have only been a few ever willingly given in the history of the Tamers and even those have either been lost or hidden by the Tamers to whom those dragons belonged to. These gems are not like the natural ones found in rocks or underground; they hold a magic that not even the dragons understand.’ He stopped there and put the book down behind him.

            I sat there and a small smirk had forced itself onto my lips as I remembered Frain had told me that dragons didn’t deal with magic. ‘Ah, so even my own dragon keeps secrets from me.’ I giggled. ‘At least it’s a dragon secret but there must be a few people enough who know about these dragon stones or it would never have appeared in that book,’ I spoke out loud to myself more than to him.

            ‘And what are you getting at?’ he asked, sounding like this wasn’t really anything (which it was).

            ‘I don’t know, probably nothing; just my thoughts going too fast for my head to really keep up.’ Yawning widely, I kicked a foot out and tried to calm whatever was now squirming through my brain. ‘I should get to sleep now. It was good that I came in but I should get to my own bed.’

            ‘Do you really want to move while you’re tired?’ he asked but I wasn’t falling for that.

            I raised my eyebrows and then stood up easily. ‘Yes, I do. So I’ll say good night and leave you alone.’ Heading over, I opened the door and knew he was right next to me. ‘Good night, Ky,’ I bade him and turned so I could kiss his cheek. That was over very quickly as I had soon swiftly stepped out of the door before he could say anything else.