Invading Will Chapter 1 Part 1
#2 of Invading Will
Invading Will
Chapter 1
Part 1
By: D. C. Henry ("Ahndeleck")
The morning air flowing across his wings felt perfect to Raogothcar. Earlier in the day it had felt slightly cool, but the air had warmed up quickly once the sun had risen over the horizon. He didn't get up early enough to watch the sun rise very often, but with all the excitement of a new den, Raogothcar found he wasn't sleeping well. With so many new distractions all around him, it was easy to forget about sleep.
His dusty red wings beat slowly as he flew over the foothills before the hulking mountain range he now called home. He flexed his red claws and clicked his black talons as the frustrating memories of other caves that wouldn't work. The last two places would have made suitable home, but there were no humans nearby. Raogothcar wanted to be around humans, just as his parents lived. It had turned out to be difficult finding just the right place.
Most of his attention on his flights in the past several days had been towards where to find his food and comfortable places to sun or write during the day. Now that he had found several places in the mountains he would call his home, his attention turned more often to the large human city that lay at the feet of his mountains.
He beat his wings hard to gain altitude to where he could tickle the small puffy clouds. Just as he reached the height of his climb, the musty smell of a human city greeted him. He grinned at the human city far below him, as he folded his wings and dipped to have a closer look.
Humans living so close to his den excited him. His parents lived in a hill that was a fair distance from the nearest human village. Most dragons worked with humans on occasion, so he had wondered why his parents would want a place so far from them. Being so far from the humans seemed to make everything harder for his father. Raogothcar thought the creatures were fascinating and wanted to watch them more when he was younger. When it came time for Raogothcar to find his own den, he had decided it would have to be somewhere close to humans.
Now he had what he was looking for. He wanted to go into town, but wasn't sure what he should do. His father had always gone to see different people in the towns, always friends that he knew. Raogothcar didn't know anyone, and he wasn't even sure what the name of the town below him was. It would be an insult to go into a town without knowing what its name was. Even if he did, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do once he got there.
Tired of thinking about the city, and flying most of the morning, he turned back towards the mountains. A den high in the mountains had the benefit of needing little effort to soar over most of the land. When he selected the small cave nestled in a small pine grove near the peak of the mountain, he had overlooked the amount of work it would take to fly up the mountain. The constant flapping made his tired shoulders burn a little more with each wing beat.
With a final beat of his wings, he bobbed over the ridge of pine trees that surrounded his small valley in the mountains. When he had seen the valley for the first time, he had instantly knew that it would have to be a home. In the center was a small hot spring, crystal clear and refreshing. The spring fed a small mountain stream that lead down to one of the rivers in the city blow. Around the spring were flat rocks, perfect for sunning or writing at any time of the day. The eastern ridge held his new den, rock formations made a sort of stairway up to the large outcropping of rock that served as a perfect landing place.
The horses at the bottom of his natural stairway however surprised him. He hadn't seen any wild horses anywhere on the mountains. As he glided over the hot spring, he noticed each horse wore a saddle. His heart caught in his throat when he realized that the horses had brought visitors.
Cupping his wings to bring himself to a slow stop, his powerful back feet met his favorite sunning rock first, the black talons scraping on the stone. Then dropped down to all fours with a dull thud and looked up at his den. He couldn't see any humans wandering about, so he turned back to the valley and looked through the trees. Several moments of inspection yielded no evidence of humans around him. He stretched out slowly, a row of soft flexible spines on his back arching up, and then he shook himself to rid his muscles of his long flight.
Once again he turned back to the horses and regarded them carefully. None of the beasts appeared troubled by his presence, which surprised him slightly. Each stood in place staring back at him. Then he saw the arrows protruding out of one of the packs, and soon after that, swords with each horse. Since the riders of the horses weren't visible, he guessed they might be inside his den. Raogothcar frowned at the thought of armed humans inside his new den.
In all his past memories, he had only seen one armed human, and now in his den there seemed to be four. His father had told him that armed humans were to be respected, and not annoyed. There had been tales his father told him when he was fighting along side the humans, when their bravery and skill outmatched the enemy dragons from the north. His father's stories always amazed him, especially the ones about human bravery, their cleverness, and sometimes their treachery. He decided he would have to meet them eventually, so he slowly walked past the horses, toward the stairway.
He didn't know anything about the humans of his new home. His parents had always told him about fighting the north, so he had decided to stay far south of the Sea of Melodies. He guessed the people here were probably nice, but seeing so many weapons on their horses made him feel very uncomfortable. Still, they appeared to be inside his den, and he had been looking forward to meeting some humans. Finally he started cautiously climbing the stairway up to his den, hoping that whomever he met would be friendly.
When he reached the large open stone landing at the top, he could see the four humans. The four of them sat in the shade at the opening of the den, whispering to each other. The one facing him stood quickly, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
"Greetings dragon," She said, "I apologize for the intrusion, but we've been waiting since you left earlier this morning. My men and I needed someplace out of the sun while we waited."
The woman was tall, and her shoulder would easily pass his own. He had never seen such a tall human before, but he had only seen a handful in his life this close before. Her hair was a golden in color, and she had it tied behind her head out of the way. Her skin appeared mostly white, with only a hint of brown. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, almost as if they gave off their own light. She was easily the strongest woman he had ever seen as well. She, like the others, wore a blue tunic, and on the shoulder was a small patch with a small yellow winged sword.
She hadn't sounded threatening, but the sword at her hip made him worried. As the other three stood, they too had their hands on their weapons. He started to back away from the four humans. He didn't have the first idea how to fight so many humans all at once, and he certainly didn't want to find out today. It occurred to Raogothcar that flying away would seem to be the best idea.
"Wait," The tall woman said, "we only want to talk. My name is Deanna. These are my scouts, Jacob, Helen, and Travis."
"Hello?" He couldn't think of what else to say, as he stepped back into the den.