Dragon Guard Read online

  Dragon Guard

  Dragon Tamers of Pyralis, Volume 2

  Devonnie Asher

  Published by Devonnie Asher, 2020.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  DRAGON GUARD

  First edition. July 27, 2020.

  Copyright © 2020 Devonnie Asher.

  Written by Devonnie Asher.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  What Happens Next?

  Thanks for Reading!

  About the Author

  To my parents Deon & Denton—thank you for nurturing my love of writing.

  Chapter 1

  The sky was moonless, save for a sprinkle of twinkling stars.

  The blue gem in my hands glistened in the dull night. I had been passing it through my fingers for as long as I had been sitting here on this cliff, trying to remember his face. That's what I hated most about losing people, the way it contorted your memories. Our last conversation had been a month ago, but already I was having trouble remembering what his voice sounded like.

  Thinking of him as often as I could didn't help. It was like drowning in the middle of a desert—completely illogical but somehow entirely possible if the sand was deep enough. No matter what I did, I couldn't hold on to him the way I wanted. My brain was a sieve, my memories of him spilling through like fine sand.

  Things were harder at night.

  During the days I was busy juggling Advanced Training for active duty assessment, so I had little time for memories. As soon as my brain stilled though, the nightmares ate me alive. I never got more than an hour or two of sleep before I woke up drenched in sweat, the taste of regret and all my unsaid words choking the air of my lungs. Sometimes, I would even wake up with my blade in hand. For a few seconds I would still be bound and at the mercy of those savage Astraphotians, trying to fight my way out.

  A slinking feeling followed me everywhere; that somehow, we had unknowingly left Avek behind. I had searched every tent. But what if he had been bound in the Wastelands since he was our captain? Maybe our dragons could have located him if we had taken the time to look.

  If only I had taken the time to look.

  ‘Don’t dwell on it, Kaos,’ they said. ‘Don’t beat yourself up. You were brave and did the best you could.’ But if my best couldn’t save the life of someone so important to me, what good was it?

  Each passing day lessened the possibility of his safe return. Most captured soldiers were found in days. The enemy only kept them alive for as long as they could provide useful information. The Astraphotians hoarded Dragon Guard armor and swords, he was more valuable to them dead. Our capture had increased tensions in the realm. War was brewing in New Terra. The worse it got, the less resources the Headmaster would allocate towards finding him.

  My friends had long since spared me the details of their theories about what they thought had happened to him, out of pity possibly. I’m sure it was clear to them that I had feelings for him now. They probably thought him dead by now. After all, death was something we waltzed with every day at the Academy.

  But I refused to believe it.

  He had to be alive. There was no way I could lose someone else to the Astraphotians. When I lost my father to them, I had been a clueless ten-year-old kid. But this was different. Avek was my captain, we were on the same squad, executing the same mission. This was more personal.

  This was on me.

  The fluttering of wings brought me back to the present. A bird fled the tree above me. Instinctively, I tightened my fingers around Avek's gem. The hard planes against my fingers were comforting.

  The sky was bleeding into purple and orange. A rooster crowed somewhere in the distance. Sunrise was close. I had spent another night awake.

  You ought to bring me with you one of these nights.

  The voice floated into my consciousness sharply, accusing me. My dry lips cracked into a painful smile. I couldn't see her yet, but I knew my dragon was close.

  Ever since our "promotion," Ignimitra and I had been relocated to a house in the Administrative District, one of the three municipalities at the Academy. It was spacious with a yard big enough for Ignimitra to sleep in, so she was only ever a few steps away. Still, it wasn’t right to deprive her of sleep just because I couldn't.

  Ignimitra appeared before me suddenly, hovering just a few feet away. The rising sun painted her ivory scales the color of marigold, as if she would burst into flames at any moment. She was nearly four poles long and wider than eight houses from wingtip-to-wingtip now. Her growth had practically halted, though I couldn't be exactly sure since we were still figuring out her breed.

  I was perched on a rocky outcropping a few minutes' walk from our house, tucked away above a cluster of houses. From here, I could see the entire mountain settlement—I could even make out the Assembly Hall all the way in the Academy District.

  Whenever Avek came back, I would be able to see him from here, too.

  Maybe you can sleep for an hour before our day starts.

  She moved closer, nudging me with her snout.

  I'm fine, angel. I just need a shower.

  Her dissent was so strong it briefly overpowered my senses, but she spared me the lecture. Ignimitra knew how I felt, and more than anyone she knew why.

  We only have one training session today. I’ll take a nap right after.

  Good.

  Carefully, I stashed the gem in my pocket.

  I leapt on Ignimitra’s back. Immediately, her scales stretched and solidified to anchor me in place. Together, we dove towards the city.

  THE COLD SHOWER STRIPPED me of the fatigue in my limbs.

  By the time I put on my uniform and stepped out the door, I'd left Distraught Kaos on the mountain under the stars. Now, I was Brave Kaos—the Kaos who was the only cadet in Dragon Guard history to be accepted into active duty before graduation. Brave Kaos feared nothing, and everyone feared her.

  At least, that's the way I wanted it to be.

  Though it had been three weeks since the Headmaster announced that I was provisionally accepted for active duty, Ignimitra and I still hadn't seen a single mission. We still had to pass some “test” before we were allowed into the field.

  We had been assigned to a handful of post-graduation training sessions; the kind reserved for Dragon Guard soldiers who had actually completed the two-year cadet training. We were still expected to attend some of our cadet classes. It was just more work with a different uniform.

  Despite this, I exerted myself in every way that I could. Every day I challenged myself to work harder, to be better, faster, stronger. I owed it to myself, to my father, to Ignimitra. Even Avek. The Headmaster was playing an angle with this—I just didn't know what yet.

  Anything he did was just setting the stage for something more...deadly. He always kept his cards concealed, waiting to catch you unaware. The man had one of our cohort-mate's dragons killed right in front of us for a situation that he created. Nothing was ever as simple as it seemed with him.

  Everything he does should be questioned. I’m sure it was because nobody looked deep enough
into his actions that no questions were ever asked about why he was the lone survivor of the mission that killed my father. It was his death that allowed him to become Headmaster uncontested. That’s a whole lot of motive to—

  That last one, you've got no proof of.

  Eavesdropping isn't polite, you know.

  I found Ignimitra curled up by the solitary tree in our backyard.

  Is it eavesdropping if you're thinking so loud?

  Smiling against my will, I approached her with my arms crossed in mock indignation. She bared her teeth at me, her version of a smile. The air was steamy by this, sweat beading by my temples.

  It's unlike you to come to the Headmaster's defense.

  I didn't say that I don't believe that he did it. I'm saying you don't have proof of it.

  Yet.

  Ignimitra smiled again, nudging me so hard I nearly fell backwards.

  Another memory of Avek threatened to resurface then—he was the one who helped me make the biggest breakthrough about the mystery of my father's death—but I forced it down with all my might.

  It was about time for breakfast. So, I chose to think of that.

  Living in the Administrative District wasn’t all bad. Ignimitra and I now had options for our meals. There were three mess halls in the Administrative District, each of them outfitted with plush seating and menus filled with delicacies—it was worlds better than the food they had in the Academy District. But we could still eat there if we wanted. There was even the option to get our meals delivered at home. It was a taste of Dragon Guard privilege.

  "Let's get breakfast with Solra and Irikai today," I said, mounting Ignimitra. We had cadet training in the Academy District after breakfast.

  She growled in delight. It’s been days since I've seen Titan and Zelkor.

  We had just made it into the air when a commotion below us caught my attention. Two soldiers were getting into a scuffle, in the middle of the town square. A crowd was quickly gathering around them, filtering out of the buildings nearby.

  It didn't make sense. Why would they fight? And so openly? Dragon Guard soldiers would fight with a cadet before they fought with another of their own like this. I knew that first hand.

  The onlookers are cheering.

  Nobody was making the effort to break them apart.

  Ignimitra slowed to hover above the crowd. The two soldiers were dressed in their mission uniforms. Some sort of symbol was painted into the ground where they stood. Part of it looked like a boundary, but the rest of it was some sort of weird writing.

  They're fighting for their honor.

  What? How can you know?

  I'm not sure...the symbol...I feel like I know what it means. And it makes me think of protecting one's honor. I'm curious. Can we watch?

  People were beginning to notice the huge shadow Ignimitra was casting. Their eyes on us made me uneasy.

  I guess I’m interested too.

  Ignimitra landed beside the water fountain, a few yards from the crowd. There were no other dragons in the square, so I had her hang back just to be safe. I would show her what I saw afterwards through our Fusion Bond.

  The crowd was boiling over with excitement. Frenzied chants and shouts came from all over—some people placing their bets, others heckling the fighters.

  “Take off his head,” came one cry.

  “Impale him,” shouted another. I recognized him as a soldier from one of my advanced training classes. I was almost shocked at their callousness.

  Almost.

  My time in the Administrative District had opened my eyes to a different side of the Dragon Guard. The side that cheered when Headmaster Archer made his announcement of our promotion but made thinly veiled threats whenever they saw me on the street. They used training as an excuse to manhandle me without consequences, and outside of it they treated me as if I was worse than Vromiko scum. They were savages first, humans second.

  I was a few inches too short to see more than the clashing swords of the fighting soldiers. A familiar head of hair caught my attention a few shoulders away. I wedged myself into the space beside her.

  She turned to face me, her eyes aflame and an insult on the tip of her tongue. Then recognition flashed across her face. And something else.

  "Come to place your bets?" She said over the din of the crowd. Standing on my tiptoes, I saw one soldier narrowly avoid losing an arm.

  I shook my head. "Why are they fighting?"

  "Honor."

  That answer didn't satisfy me in the least.

  "Honor?"

  Jules' lips twisted into a smile.

  "I keep forgetting you're new to the Peak." I could never bring myself to use their nickname for the Administrative District. It felt weird in my mouth, as if I didn’t deserve to use it. "This happens often up here."

  With a hand on my arm, Jules led me to the edge of the crowd so we could talk without shouting. We stood on a sheltered piazza—the shop’s windows and doors were shuttered tight.

  "It's a Dragon Duel, something we've passed down for centuries in the Guard," she gestured to the fight. “You can invoke a Dragon Duel with anyone, and they can’t say no. But it’s serious, so they’re usually a last resort.”

  I turned her words over in my mind.

  "What are those two fighting over?" Through a gap in the crowd, I saw that the ground beneath them was stained with red.

  "Rank," Jules huffed, snaking an errant lock of her purple hair behind her ear. "Jasper challenged Kagney for team lead. They’ve been at each other’s throats for months.”

  "How do you win?" My question hung in the air between us.

  "They go at it until somebody can't go anymore."

  The frenzied crowd made sense then. A fight to death was sport for these soldiers. It wasn’t any different from any day in the field for them.

  “Usually, they aren’t over something as stupid as this,” Jules’ eyes seemed like she had left a lot unsaid. But I didn’t pry. I had heard enough.

  Jules and I had become some sort of friends in the past three weeks. It was casual—sometimes we ate breakfast together, or met up in her backyard to go over training techniques. She was civil with Ignimitra and I. It was more than I could say for everyone else. Did I like her? Not sure. Did I respect her? Yes.

  And the fact that she was Avek's friend too made it a little easier. We talked about him.

  A squelch drew my eyes back to the fight. One of the soldiers had skewered the other, right under his breastplate. The crowd bubbled over into a furor then, breaking the line to encircle the soldier who had won. His opponent was sprawled out, gasping for breath as the crowd trampled him.

  "I'll catch you later, Kaos," Jules was gone before I could say anything else.

  A few moments later she had made it through the crowd, and was knelt at the side of the soldier who had lost, keeping them from stepping on him anymore. Was he Kagney or Jasper? My heart felt like a stone in my chest, but I swatted the feelings away.

  This was my life now. I didn’t have time to feel sad about it.

  Chapter 2

  Why are you so upset about the Dragon Duel?

  Ignimitra's voice cut through the flurry of emotions building in my chest. We were gliding through the air towards the mess hall.

  It doesn’t seem like a sensible way to settle differences.

  A low chuckle resounded in my head. How is it any different from what we are being trained to do? Violence seems like the only way to solve problems.

  Her words washed over me in a crashing wave of disbelief. Her sentences felt disconnected, like they shouldn't have been spoken together, like they shouldn't have been spoken by her. There was some truth to what she said too, and that accused me in ways I didn’t want to think of right now.

  Where is this coming from?

  It's an observation.

  Not all violence is the same, I began. Sometimes, the reason why you do things matters more than what you do.

  If she sensed my
lack of conviction, she didn’t show it. The cutting remark I expected never came, not even a little sarcasm. She seemed to have retreated to the recesses of her mind, because I couldn't even pick up on what she was feeling.

  Our Fusion Bond had opened up Ignimitra’s personality to me in an unexpected way. I'd always known she was headstrong—when we first met, she bit me when I misidentified her gender—but hearing her thoughts added a completely different dimension to it. As her tamer, I was also her teacher. It was my job to adjust her to life in the Dragon Guard.

  But she didn't make it easy.

  At first, when Ignimitra pointed out something that didn't make sense to her, I would dispel it quickly with what I knew. But her questions kept growing more complex. She had shifted from asking about the things we could see to the things we felt. It didn't help that my emotions were a mess since the mission, and it didn't help that sometimes even I didn't understand why things happened. Not to mention that I had so many unanswered questions myself.

  The mess hall came into view just as my stomach growled, angry that I had missed dinner last night. Below us was teeming with life—dragons bustling about in the fields eating from their troughs of charcoal, and cadets streaming in and out. The food here was questionable. But the camaraderie, I missed it.

  A sudden wave of happiness nearly overwhelmed me, emanating from the part of my brain that Ignimitra occupied. I traced her line of sight to discover why.

  A familiar pair of dragons—one ruby red and the other the color of the sky—were looking up at us excitedly. Ignimitra set us down right in their midst, and I was barely off her when they started to frolic. My dragon was bigger than Zelkor, but Titan dwarfed them both, evidence of his Giantwing pedigree. I slipped away with a smile on my face, hoping that my reunion with Solra and Irikai was something similar.

  The mess hall was a huge stone building with a high roof and giant louvered windows that looked out to the lush fields surrounding it. On one end, a long counter in front of the kitchen held all the pots filled with food that we could choose from. Groups of tables and benches were clustered in the rest of the space. Solra and Irikai were sitting in their usual spot, with an empty chair across from them.