Dragon Makers part III

“You’re leaving tomorrow?!” Kandra leaned heavily against Qual as she gazed at her teacher with dumbfounded surprise. She needed to be leaning against something, having just gotten on the ground again from her flying lesson with the new dragon. Goiyah ad finished packing by then and had just come out to tell Kandra his traveling plans as she led Qual back to the dragons’ barn.
“With the dawn, yes.” Goiya nodded with a smile, unable to hide the glee in his eye that Kandra seemed so obviously sick from her flight.
“Why so early?” she asked.
“More daylight to travel by.” Goiya shrugged, “I wont be staying at any inn, and stopping for the night wherever the night finds me. Best to travel as far as I can then before sun sets.” he explained reasonably enough. However, a frown creased Kandra’s face.
“I’d rather you stayed in the inns along the route.” she said worriedly, earning nothing more than another little laugh from Goiya.
“You’d rather me, yes. But I’d rather I stay away from people while traveling with Mizukire.” Kandra knew it was an excuse, but she took it anyway. She knew there was little to be argued about her master’s odd want to camp on all his journeys.
“Either way, that means you wont be here when Lady Kiezra arrives.” Kandra said awkwardly, shifting into a different topic a bit oddly.
“You’ll do fine, you’ve handled customers before.” Goiya assured her.
“Also.....” she hesitated, knowing that she shouldn’t question her teacher.
“Yes?” Goiya raised an eyebrow, leaning forward a little.
“When can I start building my dragon?” Kandra asked slowly, carefully, almost bracing herself for the reprimand that was sure to follow. How dare she doubt her teacher, question him on such a matter with impatience as her only excuse. It shouldn’t have been a shock to see Goiya laughing instead of yelling at her.
“My dear girl, you may start whenever you wish. I was merely waiting to see how long would pass before you asked me. That is the sign of readiness I’ve been looking for in you.” he told her brightly, laughter filling every corner of his voice.
Kandra stared at the man in disbelief. She didn’t know what to think, to be mad at him or excited or scared, she was just speechless. Though one thing did excite her; the slowly forming picture of her dragon in her head. Her dragon!
“Go ahead and put Qual away for the evening, put the new dragon next to her too.” Goiya said, still laughing at his apprentices dumbfounded expression, “I’ll go around to the kitchen and start us up a meal.” he offered, wanting to spend this last meal with her before he left. After all, Kandra would sleep a few hours past dawn, she always did.
“Y-yes, Master.” the girl said blankly, still in shock from the news. Her own dragon. Slowly she turned back to Qual and the new dragon, opening the barn doors for them and leading them inside. “You’re to sleep here, if you don’t mind.” she said politely to the new dragon, motioning to the space next to Qual’s nesting spot. There were only three dragons on the estate that used the barn, the others were too big. In Cross’ case too small, and of course being Goiya’s first dragon, she had a special place within the building. There were much larger dragons though that roamed the grounds and forests, making their homes there and often found near the pond or the workshop doors. They were rather friendly, for being such large creatures, and they were even known in the village. Villagers even came to Goiya to ask for help in moving things from some of the larger dragons, and he was always happy to oblige.
Now though, Kandra would be left to such tasks as she learned to take over the estate. Even if Goiya still lived on for many years to come, once Kandra became a proclaimed master, more and more duties to managing the estate would fall to her. She was even allowed to take on an apprentice while Goiya still lived and resided on the grounds. That would offer the student much more insight into the craft, but as of yet that was all very far off. Kandra wasn’t a master yet, and she hadn’t even thought of taking on an apprentice, much less when her master might die. Managing the estate she could handle much better than such things.
Once the dragons were settled, Kandra made her way back to the workshop to clean up a bit, nothing more than putting away the tools and re-stringing the beads that weren’t used. She didn’t bother completely cleaning the shop again since she had done so only a few days earlier. The shop was too big to be cleaned every day. Goiya was happy enough if things were simply in their proper place, and the dust didn’t get too thick. Once things were a bit more in order, Kandra went outside again and around to the outdoor kitchen where Goiya was managing to make a mess out of their meal. One reason why she mostly did the cooking, because in all honesty, Goiya had no clue about cooking. It was amazing that he could light a fire, but Kandra supposed he’d use them more for warmth than to cook with.
“What would I ever do without you?” he asked her in false innocense as she shooed him gently away from the food
“Either starve, or make Cross learn how to light a fire.” Kandra sighed and shook her head, though there was a smile on her face nonetheless.
“A good idea!” Goiya laughed loudly as he thought about Kandra’s words. She shook her head again and merely continued working while Goiya rambled on about this and that, things she mostly didn’t listen to. The meal was simple, as it always was; Dragon Makers were known for their humble meals. Soon a rich pork stew simmered over the steady fire and Cross found her way outside as she followed the smell. She was of course welcome to join the two humans. Being something of a house dragon meant that Cross rarely hunted like the other dragons, so she mostly ate leftovers or was given her own serving. Though Kandra made sure that Goiya got a larger helping and she also watched to be sure he ate it all. He needed to replenish his energy for his journey’s beginning tomorrow morning. She would have to make sure that Mizukire had eaten well too, wanting him at his best and fully able to protect her master if trouble arose.
Kandra left Cross and Goiya to the foot with instructions to save some for her share before going back over to the barn to check on Mizukire. He was one of the few that stayed in the barn, many others love to roam. But Mizukire had something of a horse-like attitude, and he liked being warm at night. Each dragon had his or her own little personality quirks, and as tough as Mizukire seemed, he had a rather soft side and often preferred company to fall asleep with. Though he was rather territorial.
Kandra paused as she neared the barn, hearing growling and thrashing inside the barn. She approached the doors carefully, never sure when a fight might break out. That’s what it had to be, a fight. It must have been the new dragon, she was sure of it since all of their dragons knew where to sleep, who’s nest was who’s. The new dragon was the only one that didn’t know the nesting order. She could think of a few dragons who would be mad about this new intruder, but the name she didn’t want to come to mind was Mizukire’s. It was him of course, Kandra recognized his growl, it was a very distinctive. He sounded very cat-like when he growled, like a tiger or a lion, very feline. Usually dragon growls reminded her of canines, but Mizukire seemed like the exception to everything. She had to do something quickly before the dragons got themselves hurt. Lady Kiezra wouldn’t be pleased if her dragon was injured, and Goiya was taking Mizukire on his trip, they just could not hurt each other.
Slowly, Kandra unlatched the door and opened it the smallest bit. That gave her a good enough view of the situation to open both doors as fast as she could before the two dragons barreled through them. Qual had seen the movement of the doors and moved fast enough to block Kandra from the two dragons.
“My thanks.” the girl said quickly to Qual, patting the side of her neck before darting around to her other side. Qual still crouched low over her in case the two fighting dragons came too close to the girl. For a few moments, Kandra was lost as to what to do as the dragons writhed and snarled, lunging and dodging one another. All she knew was that she had to stop the fight. And as that feeling grew within her, something else happened as well. It almost felt like another dragon stood beside her, not just guarding her, but inside of her as well. A part of her. She felt a pulse within her that wasn’t her own and felt a burning behind her eyes. “Enough!” she shouted suddenly, her voice not only shaking with power, but she also heard a roaring undertone that struck all three dragons like a physical force. All was still then as Kandra walked forward between the two dragons.
“You, dragon of Lady Kiezra,” she said, looking fiercely at the new dragon and seeing her eyes glowing in the refection of his own, “will nest in the barn with Qual. And you,” she turned to Mizukire, “Will sleep in the studio so that Master Goiya will leave tomorrow morning with less hassle.” her words were calm now, but that didn’t stop her from speaking very sternly with the dragons. “Go, now, both of you.” she ordered, standing very still and watching both of the dragons as they moved off to their assigned places.
Then Kandra blinked, and whatever had flared within her was gone. The burning behind her eyes stopped, and her voice returned to normal. It felt as if the dragon which had always been inside her had only just woken up, but was now curling up again to sleep once more. She stood dazed for a moment, looking at nothing for the longest time, before glancing over to Qual. The female was staring at her in shock, she was the only one that hadn’t moved because she was not given orders to do so. Silently, she reached out to Qual, who nuzzled her nose in her hand much like a horse would do.
“What...was that?” she asked the dragon gently, but Qual had no answer for her. The dragon was wise and knew many things, but she knew only so much. And yet she couldn’t explain it to her in words she would understand. Kandra smiled gently as Qual gazed at her. She knew that neither of them had the answer, so she merely stroked the scales of Qual’s neck gently before nodding silently to the dragon. Once given permission to move off, Qual bowed her head to Kandra before moving back into the barn. Once she was inside, Kandra closed the doors and latched them again. It was kind fate that the doors hadn’t been smashed, and that neither dragon had hurt the other. Once all was settled again, Kandra went back to the kitchen to find Goiya and Cross waiting her return.
“What was that all about?” Goiya asked as Kandra served herself some stew.
“Mizukire was fighting with the new dragon.” Kandra shrugged, not sure if she wanted to tell her master about the strange presence and voice. “I separated them and sent Mizukire into the workshop. He’ll sleep there tonight and be waiting for you tomorrow morning.” she took a sip of the stew before looking up to find that both Goiya and Cross were staring at her.
“Am I to understand that you stepped between two quarreling dragons?” Goiya asked, his tone light as he put the question very carefully.
Kandra paused to glance over to Cross before looking back to her teacher, “Qual was there to protect me.” she explained easily before taking another sip of stew. It was the first real lie she had told her master, and the only false lies she’d ever fed Goiya was were the pliers had gone. Nothing more than child-like, white lies. But this was no white lie.
“She is a confidant fighter.” Cross said calmly to assure Goiya and appease his worries.
“That explains the third dragon we heard.” Goiya shrugged.
“Yes.” Cross nodded, sipping some broth from her own bowl. It was the first Kandra heard about a third dragon. There were three dragons in the ordeal yes, but Qual had remained silent. But Kandra didn’t speak about it again, she merely focused on her dinner. The meal progressed in silence, Goiya left first, leaving Kandra and Cross. The small dragon stared at Kandra whenever the girl looked away. Kandra felt her gaze, but continued to say nothing. She didn’t move from her seat until Cross left the kitchen, and then she cleaned up the bowls and moved around the kitchen aimlessly cleaning before she worked up the courage to go back inside. She snuck past Goiya’s room and his study where Cross slept. All the way down to her room, where she opened the door as slowly and quietly as she could, and shut it that way as well.
Goiya waited until he heard the ever so soft click of Kandra’s door shut before shutting his own door gently and turning to Cross. “Well now.” he said in false humor.
“That could have been handled better.” Cross sighed, shaking her head a little. She lay on Goiya’s bed, watching him pace as they spoke.
“The voice of a dragon...now that’s never happened before.” he mumbled thoughtfully.
“She is a powerful girl.” Cross replied reasonably, giving a half shrug, “We suspected this would come about.”
“Yes....” Goiya nodded, half focusing on Cross, half on his thoughts. “She’s not even a master yet.”
“It will be her first dragon. That is a powerful force to hold within your own soul.”
“But to have that force physically manifest itself.” Goiya looked back to Cross with slight frown, “You know the feeling, never could we have imagined such power.”
“You think that was the voice of her dragon?” Cross asked, nodding thoughtfully herself now as Goiya compared Kandra’s incident to the first time Goiyah ad felt Cross’ spirit within him.
“I think her dragon lent her his voice.” Goiya stated his theory. “I heard her voice, but it was in DragonSpeak. If it had been her dragon, she would have sounded more like a one.”
“True.” Cross nodded, looking back up to Goiya, “So, what happens now?” she asked seriously, knowing that Goiya still had to go off to meet with Hanri.
“Well, there’s no doubt that she is ready. I’ve already given her my permission to start, and it seems like her dragon is already restless.” Goiya sighed as he sat down on the bed next to Cross and she leaned against him a little, “All I can tell you is to watch her closely, make sure she’s taking care of herself and not running both of them into the ground.”
“Yes, Master.” Cross nodded sleepily, nuzzling her nose in Goiya’s palm.
“Thank you, Cross.” Goiya smiled, moving around to the other side of the bed. After her first year of living, Cross had wanted her own bed, Goiya had missed her presence beside him a little. He could manage with half a bed this once.