Guardians of Caledon
Silver scales gleamed in the flickering flame of Teifi’s torch. A dozen paces away, a dragon towered over a cowering form in the grass. Its golden eyes were fixed fiercely upon its prey, and its lips curled into a snarl over serrated fangs.
The shuddering animal crouching beside the immense, sickle-shaped claw on the dragon’s foot blasted a feeble burst of fire from its nostrils and jabbed with its toothy beak at the monster looming over it.
The dragon jumped back, its massive head following the path of flame from the smaller creature’s nose. It snorted and growled low in its throat, then tapped one of its curved claws on the ground in an agitated manner.
Teifi’s blue eyes absorbed the scene in seconds. She knew she should flee before she became the dragon’s next victim, but the sight of the trembling form on the ground held her mesmerized, swamped with pity.
Another blast of flame shot from the small animal’s beak, and the dragon shuffled backward again, growling ominously. Suddenly it lunged, mouth agape, toward the quivering creature. The little one shied away, trying to deflect the oncoming teeth with an extended wing, but the dragon caught its leathery hide and ripped a jagged gash through its flesh. The animal emitted a piercing shriek of pain that drove straight to Teifi’s heart.
Without pausing to think, Teifi launched herself through the thin veil of branches that separated her from the sparring creatures, waving her torch wildly.
“Leave him alone!” she snarled. “Pick on someone your own size!”
Snorting, the dragon drew up to its full height and turned agilely to face Teifi. She brandished her torch at it again. It bared its teeth and grunted, hooded eyes narrowing as it focused on this new challenger.
This Cythraul was young. The dragon’s head barely reached Teifi’s shoulder, and she had distracted it too readily from its wounded prey. With its torn wing, the little Aderyntan stood no chance to escape the jaws of its attacker, and an adult would have devoured it already.
Teifi observed the Cythraul. It returned her steady stare, then threw back its head and roared.
Teifi was ready for its charge. Lowering her torch, she braced herself for the impact and nimbly jumped aside as the creature reached her, driving the flame into the scaly flesh of its shoulder as its teeth snapped together, barely missing her sleeve.
The Cythraul yelped, an uncertain sound of pain mingled with surprise. It whirled on Teifi, surveying her with calculating eyes, but hesitated to rush another attack.
Teifi stared back. In dodging the Cythraul’s pounce, she had successfully placed herself between it and the injured Aderyntan.
Teifi shook her torch at the dragon. Saliva dripped from its fangs, and it uttered several irritated grunts. Teifi imitated the sounds, then added a soft, chirruping bark. The creature drew up, cocking its head at her curiously.
Teifi inched closer to the helpless Aderyntan, which sat whimpering on the grass, no doubt wondering which of these two-legged predators would win the battle and eat it.
Teifi lifted her torch high, and the Cythraul raised its head to follow the flame. She swung the light down toward the ground, and then in a circle in front of herself. The Cythraul traced the motion, fascinated. Back and forth, around and up and down. Then, drawing back her arm, Teifi held the torch like a spear and launched it with all her might.
The Cythraul snarled and set off in pursuit. The torch landed about twenty paces away, and the young dragon pounced on it, snatching it up in its powerful jaws and snapping the sturdy staff into two pieces. The flaming half fell to the creature’s left, and the dragon wheeled to examine it, sniffing and huffing through wide nostrils.
Teifi wheeled and scooped up the wounded Aderyntan from behind. It struggled violently, but she clamped its wings against its muscular body and clutched its back close to her chest. The small dragon shrieked and released a burst of flame, lighting up the clearing around them.
“Hush!” Teifi commanded. Gripping the creature tightly, she broke into a run.
Behind her, the Cythraul roared with rage as it realized that its dinner was escaping. Teifi heard its thudding feet and glanced over her shoulder to see it picking up speed. The Aderyntan spotted it, too, and another surge of fire erupted from its nostrils. The flame caught the branches of a bush, igniting them.
Teifi kept running. The Cythraul stopped to investigate the smoldering bush, then threw back its head and yelped a birdlike cry.
Teifi knew that sound. It was calling for help. Within moments, the area would be crawling with Cythrauls, all bent on ensuring that the adolescent finished its hunt and claimed its prize. She would not stand a chance against a pack of adult dragons.
From somewhere to her right, an answering bark reached her ears. They were close.
Fear gave her feet wings, and she swiftly closed the distance between herself and the village. She crashed through a small stream and nimbly negotiated a low stone wall without loosening her grip on the young Aderyntan.
The little dragon occasionally lit her path with a volley of flame and craned its neck in repeated attempts to bite her. It had not stopped trembling since she had picked it up, and it still hissed intermittently, as though trying to frighten her.
A cacophony of chirping barks carried across the field. Teifi could not identify how many voices had joined the conversation, but she guessed at least five.
Huffing and puffing, she reached a ramshackle, wooden hut on the north side of the village. Unceremoniously shoving the Aderyntan under one arm, she pulled the latch string with her free hand and thrust the door open. Frantically, she launched herself through and elbowed it closed. She dropped the latch into place, pulled the latch string inside, and leaned on the door, trying to catch her breath. The Aderyntan hissed and blasted a short burst of flame.
“Stop that!” Teifi cast an anxious glance at the thatched roof and lowered the animal to the height of her knees as she ducked across the hut’s single room to the fireplace. She deposited the dragon on the hearth and grabbed a thick cloth which she used to remove the dented metal cover from the fire.
The coals smoldered red. Teifi bent her head to blow on them. A small flame flickered up, a brief tongue of warmth that died as quickly as it had lived.
The Aderyntan watched her efforts with mingled fear and interest. Another streak of fire emerged from its nose.
Teifi smiled at it. “Direct that onto the embers, and you’ll be useful, little one.”
She blew again, and this time, the fire flared up and licked at the half-burned logs on the ash pile.
The dragon’s eyes moved from Teifi’s face to the feeble flames in the fireplace and back again. Suspicion lurked in their depths, but the fear had disappeared. Perhaps the creature thought Teifi had used her own internal combustion to stir the blaze to life.
“Teifi?”
A deep voice spoke her name and Teifi heard the rustle of a woolen blanket. Her older brother, Patrick, sat up in his bed on the other side of the room, squinting in the revived firelight. “Teifi, what are you doing?”
“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
Patrick set his feet on the floor. “Where have you…?”
His eyes adjusted to the light and fell on the Aderyntan beside the hearth. “By the gods, Teifi! What is that thing?”
“It’s an Aderyntan,” she replied smoothly.
“What’s it doing in here?” he demanded, eyes wide. He scrambled for his dagger, sheathed beside his bed.
“Leave him alone!” Teifi flung herself between her brother and the dragon, making the little Aderyntan shuffle closer to the fireplace in alarm. “He’s mine! And he’s just a baby! He won’t hurt us!”
“He might burn the house down!”
The Aderyntan blew a powerful blast of flame and shrieked.
“He’ll only burn the house down if you frighten him! Put your dagger away!”
Patrick scowled. “Teifi, take that thing outside! Now!”
Teifi shook her head stubbornly. “Can’t. Cythrauls are looking for him. Hear them calling? They’re close. A whole pack of them. His wing is bitten, and he can’t fly. If I put him outside, the Cythrauls will come into the village for him. Do you want that?”
Patrick shook his head sharply, as though trying to wrap it around his sister’s words. “Why is his wing bitten? Why are the Cythrauls looking for him? How do you know all this?”
“Because I was on my way back from the harbor and I came upon a Cythraul trying to eat him,” Teifi admitted. “I couldn’t just leave him there!”
The shuddering animal crouching beside the immense, sickle-shaped claw on the dragon’s foot blasted a feeble burst of fire from its nostrils and jabbed with its toothy beak at the monster looming over it.
The dragon jumped back, its massive head following the path of flame from the smaller creature’s nose. It snorted and growled low in its throat, then tapped one of its curved claws on the ground in an agitated manner.
Teifi’s blue eyes absorbed the scene in seconds. She knew she should flee before she became the dragon’s next victim, but the sight of the trembling form on the ground held her mesmerized, swamped with pity.
Another blast of flame shot from the small animal’s beak, and the dragon shuffled backward again, growling ominously. Suddenly it lunged, mouth agape, toward the quivering creature. The little one shied away, trying to deflect the oncoming teeth with an extended wing, but the dragon caught its leathery hide and ripped a jagged gash through its flesh. The animal emitted a piercing shriek of pain that drove straight to Teifi’s heart.
Without pausing to think, Teifi launched herself through the thin veil of branches that separated her from the sparring creatures, waving her torch wildly.
“Leave him alone!” she snarled. “Pick on someone your own size!”
Snorting, the dragon drew up to its full height and turned agilely to face Teifi. She brandished her torch at it again. It bared its teeth and grunted, hooded eyes narrowing as it focused on this new challenger.
This Cythraul was young. The dragon’s head barely reached Teifi’s shoulder, and she had distracted it too readily from its wounded prey. With its torn wing, the little Aderyntan stood no chance to escape the jaws of its attacker, and an adult would have devoured it already.
Teifi observed the Cythraul. It returned her steady stare, then threw back its head and roared.
Teifi was ready for its charge. Lowering her torch, she braced herself for the impact and nimbly jumped aside as the creature reached her, driving the flame into the scaly flesh of its shoulder as its teeth snapped together, barely missing her sleeve.
The Cythraul yelped, an uncertain sound of pain mingled with surprise. It whirled on Teifi, surveying her with calculating eyes, but hesitated to rush another attack.
Teifi stared back. In dodging the Cythraul’s pounce, she had successfully placed herself between it and the injured Aderyntan.
Teifi shook her torch at the dragon. Saliva dripped from its fangs, and it uttered several irritated grunts. Teifi imitated the sounds, then added a soft, chirruping bark. The creature drew up, cocking its head at her curiously.
Teifi inched closer to the helpless Aderyntan, which sat whimpering on the grass, no doubt wondering which of these two-legged predators would win the battle and eat it.
Teifi lifted her torch high, and the Cythraul raised its head to follow the flame. She swung the light down toward the ground, and then in a circle in front of herself. The Cythraul traced the motion, fascinated. Back and forth, around and up and down. Then, drawing back her arm, Teifi held the torch like a spear and launched it with all her might.
The Cythraul snarled and set off in pursuit. The torch landed about twenty paces away, and the young dragon pounced on it, snatching it up in its powerful jaws and snapping the sturdy staff into two pieces. The flaming half fell to the creature’s left, and the dragon wheeled to examine it, sniffing and huffing through wide nostrils.
Teifi wheeled and scooped up the wounded Aderyntan from behind. It struggled violently, but she clamped its wings against its muscular body and clutched its back close to her chest. The small dragon shrieked and released a burst of flame, lighting up the clearing around them.
“Hush!” Teifi commanded. Gripping the creature tightly, she broke into a run.
Behind her, the Cythraul roared with rage as it realized that its dinner was escaping. Teifi heard its thudding feet and glanced over her shoulder to see it picking up speed. The Aderyntan spotted it, too, and another surge of fire erupted from its nostrils. The flame caught the branches of a bush, igniting them.
Teifi kept running. The Cythraul stopped to investigate the smoldering bush, then threw back its head and yelped a birdlike cry.
Teifi knew that sound. It was calling for help. Within moments, the area would be crawling with Cythrauls, all bent on ensuring that the adolescent finished its hunt and claimed its prize. She would not stand a chance against a pack of adult dragons.
From somewhere to her right, an answering bark reached her ears. They were close.
Fear gave her feet wings, and she swiftly closed the distance between herself and the village. She crashed through a small stream and nimbly negotiated a low stone wall without loosening her grip on the young Aderyntan.
The little dragon occasionally lit her path with a volley of flame and craned its neck in repeated attempts to bite her. It had not stopped trembling since she had picked it up, and it still hissed intermittently, as though trying to frighten her.
A cacophony of chirping barks carried across the field. Teifi could not identify how many voices had joined the conversation, but she guessed at least five.
Huffing and puffing, she reached a ramshackle, wooden hut on the north side of the village. Unceremoniously shoving the Aderyntan under one arm, she pulled the latch string with her free hand and thrust the door open. Frantically, she launched herself through and elbowed it closed. She dropped the latch into place, pulled the latch string inside, and leaned on the door, trying to catch her breath. The Aderyntan hissed and blasted a short burst of flame.
“Stop that!” Teifi cast an anxious glance at the thatched roof and lowered the animal to the height of her knees as she ducked across the hut’s single room to the fireplace. She deposited the dragon on the hearth and grabbed a thick cloth which she used to remove the dented metal cover from the fire.
The coals smoldered red. Teifi bent her head to blow on them. A small flame flickered up, a brief tongue of warmth that died as quickly as it had lived.
The Aderyntan watched her efforts with mingled fear and interest. Another streak of fire emerged from its nose.
Teifi smiled at it. “Direct that onto the embers, and you’ll be useful, little one.”
She blew again, and this time, the fire flared up and licked at the half-burned logs on the ash pile.
The dragon’s eyes moved from Teifi’s face to the feeble flames in the fireplace and back again. Suspicion lurked in their depths, but the fear had disappeared. Perhaps the creature thought Teifi had used her own internal combustion to stir the blaze to life.
“Teifi?”
A deep voice spoke her name and Teifi heard the rustle of a woolen blanket. Her older brother, Patrick, sat up in his bed on the other side of the room, squinting in the revived firelight. “Teifi, what are you doing?”
“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
Patrick set his feet on the floor. “Where have you…?”
His eyes adjusted to the light and fell on the Aderyntan beside the hearth. “By the gods, Teifi! What is that thing?”
“It’s an Aderyntan,” she replied smoothly.
“What’s it doing in here?” he demanded, eyes wide. He scrambled for his dagger, sheathed beside his bed.
“Leave him alone!” Teifi flung herself between her brother and the dragon, making the little Aderyntan shuffle closer to the fireplace in alarm. “He’s mine! And he’s just a baby! He won’t hurt us!”
“He might burn the house down!”
The Aderyntan blew a powerful blast of flame and shrieked.
“He’ll only burn the house down if you frighten him! Put your dagger away!”
Patrick scowled. “Teifi, take that thing outside! Now!”
Teifi shook her head stubbornly. “Can’t. Cythrauls are looking for him. Hear them calling? They’re close. A whole pack of them. His wing is bitten, and he can’t fly. If I put him outside, the Cythrauls will come into the village for him. Do you want that?”
Patrick shook his head sharply, as though trying to wrap it around his sister’s words. “Why is his wing bitten? Why are the Cythrauls looking for him? How do you know all this?”
“Because I was on my way back from the harbor and I came upon a Cythraul trying to eat him,” Teifi admitted. “I couldn’t just leave him there!”
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(c) 2019 Christine Stobbe
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Guardians of Caledon
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