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The stars were beautiful, Hermann thought to himself as he released his messenger ornithopter. He sighed and watched as the machine fluttered away until it was lost to the dark. Hermann turned his gaze back to the sky, silently praying to the heavens that his letter would safely reach the eastern kingdom without being intercepted, that he would get a quick reply, and that these letters would no longer be necessary. He would finally be free of this stifling palace and his father’s oppressive thumb. He nearly fell out of the window when Karla pushed the door open suddenly.“You should be in bed,” was the first thing she told him once Hermann had righted himself in the window sill. “What if I had been His Majesty?” Karla said dryly and came to the window to lean on the opposite side to look outside. Hermann scoffed. “Karla, please. Father never comes up here, and with any luck I won’t have to worry about him for much longer.” Though his sister was right about him being in bed. It was late, and he had to be up early tomorrow for yet another lesson in dragon slaying from his father and the war council.For a moment, he hesitated before taking his cane from where he’d leaned it against the wall and eased himself off the sill. Hermann took one last look at the stars before closing one shutter while Karla closed the other. “You’re finally getting out?” his sister asked quietly, “Getting away?” It was something they’d talked about for years, running away from their father. Despite Karla’s capabilities as a warrior and Hermann’s intellect and magical abilities, their father saw them as practically useless. Karla would likely be married off for political negotiations and in a few months their father was going the send Hermann off to die at the hands of a dragon. They weren’t sure whether their father would favor Bastien or not, but he would likely be trained for the throne in the event that Dietrich left no heirs of his own. “I think so, yes.” Karla took his free hand in both of hers and squeezed gently. “I just need a response back to confirm everything. I’ve set a deal with one of the traders for passage out of the kingdom before the first snows block the mountain passes.” Hermann squeezed her hands in return and gave his sister a small, lopsided smile. He would be running to the east, while Karla had plans to travel west, where she told him women were accepted, even encouraged to become soldiers. “We will both of us be free by this time next month,” he murmured. They stood together for a few moments longer before pain began to pinch more insistently at his hips and down his legs. Karla let him pull away so he could sit down on his bed. The cold sea air did his ailing body no favors. “We’ll be alright, Hermann,” Karla told him when she walked back to his door. She sounded like she was trying to reassure them both. “Now get some sleep, or His Majesty will have a fit when you fall asleep while he lectures.” His sister lingered in the doorway, giving him one last hopeful look before she left, shutting the door behind him, leaving him alone with a few sputtering candles and his own thoughts.He would have to find a way to pay Mr. Chau, and his window to come up with money was closing fast. Hermann frowned, laying back onto his bed. He hadn’t told Karla about the money he didn’t have, and Mr. Chau’s services were anything but cheap. He didn’t want to worry Karla, as he was sure he would come up with payment before he left. Before he was on his way to freedom.Freedom. After a lifetime of misery and years of exhaustingly hopeful letters, he would finally have freedom. Three years ago, Hermann had built a functioning ornithopter imbued with magic. Three years ago, he’d first sought asylum in another country, any one that would take him. Only a month after that, he’d gotten a response from the east, from the mountains. The king—he’d addressed himself as Newt—had offered him citizenship.It wasn’t that simple, of course. Hermann couldn’t just show up and be accepted into the kingdom. He had to figure out how to leave, first of all, and the easiest way to gain citizenship and protection in the east was to marry a citizen. It just so happened that the mountain king was in need of a spouse. Newt seemed a decent sort from the letters they exchanged, and Hermann was a little embarrassed to admit that, in the last year of their correspondence, he might have developed a bit of a crush on the man. He also hadn’t told Karla about the marriage or his feelings. He knew she would be doubtful and it wouldn’t do for her to get distracted by worrying over him. Marriage didn’t seem so terrible when he at least got to know a little about the person he would be wed to. It was more than most high-borns could expect from marriage. Hermann wouldn’t have to try to kill a magnificent and fearsome creature—or more likely be killed by one—and he would be away from his father at long last.Hermann resigned himself to another sleepless night. He was too wound up now to even think of sleeping after sending off what would hopefully be his last letter to the east and talking with Karla once more about their impending escape. With shaking hands, he reached under his mattress to retrieve three years’ worth of letters from Newt. The parchment was worn at the edges and fold marks from being handled so often and the ink was a little faded in the older letters. Hermann lovingly traced along the ink scrawled on the page. It had taken him a while, at first, to read Newt’s messy handwriting, but now it was almost more familiar to him than his own writing. Letters promising a library, laboratories and observatories, magical knowledge. But most important, Newt wrote to him of safety and the possibility of happiness.
He read those letters until the candles in his room finally guttered out, little more than puddles of wax and burnt out wicks. Hermann closed his eyes, pressing the parchment to his chest. Only when he was in danger of falling asleep did he put the letters back under his mattress, careful not to crush any of them when he let the mattress back down. There were only a few hours left to the night, and Karla was right. Father would be very cross with him if he fell asleep during a lecture about dragon slaying.
With that in mind, Hermann finally closed his eyes and went to sleep, full of hope.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Two Months Later
Everything was set. Mr. Chau had agreed to wait outside the city for him and would take him out of the country upon payment. Hermann had everything he thought he would need neatly packed away into a bag, letters folded safely as well. Just four days ago, Newt’s letter had arrived, carried by his ornithopter. He couldn’t help but look it over again in the hopes of calming his nerves.
Hermann,
I got your last letter. Well, obviously, since I’m writing back. Everything is ready for you here. I’ve sent a pair of guards ahead to escort you once you get to our border. I can hardly wait to meet you in person after so long. I almost can’t believe we’ll be married soon, too. I’ll be counting the seconds until you get here.
Your impatient future husband, Newt.
It was such a short reply, and almost illegible, but Hermann didn’t need a long response now. His fingers paused over the word ‘husband’ written at the bottom of the parchment. Yes, they were going to be married. And Hermann would be happy. He was determined to be. Everything was packed. Food, some clothes, his ornithopter of course, and a cameo of his sister and one of his mother because he felt a little sentimental. Well, perhaps more than a just a little sentimental. He was taking all of his letters with him, after all, even though he didn’t really need them. He just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them behind.Hermann took a deep breath and slid this last letter in with all the rest in his bag. He wrapped a shawl around his shoulders and a thick travel cloak over that to make certain he would keep warm. He opened the shutter to stare out at the sky and smiled. This was the last time he would see the sky from this window, and it felt lovely. The stars were so bright and comforting. He didn’t bother to close the shutters again when he crept out of his room. Even the staff would be asleep by now, it was so late, which would hopefully mean Hermann could get out without being noticed.When a hand clamped down on his shoulder he had to fight down a squawk and was very nearly ready to use his cane as a bludgeon. It was just Karla, though. Hermann was tempted to just let his cane finish the swing and hit her anyway for startling him like that. “Dammit, Karla!” He tried to put as much frustration as he could in only a whisper. It would be horrible if they got caught just because Hermann couldn’t hold his temper. “Don’t do that!”Karla didn’t look repentant at all. “You’re leaving tonight?” She asked instead of apologizing. That settled his irritation a little and he straightened up as much as he could. “Yes. I suppose you are, too? I would hate for you to be around when father discovers I’ve fled.” He felt relieved when Karla nodded. “I can help you open the gate,” she told him. “I can start out on foot and scale the wall once you’re out and start west.” He let Karla pull him into a too tight hug in the middle of the hallway. “Send me a letter with your magic machine once you’re safe,” she murmured into his shoulder. “Write to me and promise me we’ll meet again.” “Or what, you’ll put sea snails in my bed again?” She laughed at that and held him tighter, so that it hurt to breathe, but for once he didn’t complain. “Yes, I’ll find a way to put sea snails in your bed, even when we’re on opposite sides of the world.” Finally, she pulled away and stepped back. “I’ll see you at the gate. Be safe, you little shit.” Karla ruffled his hair before he could stop her, and then she was gone.Hermann stood in the hall, staring at where his older sister had been. Then he blinked and made himself start walking. He tried so hard to be quiet, but the tapping of his cane on the cold flagstone sounded like a crack of thunder with every step. He was so nervous, he felt like he would be sick. When Hermann started to walk past his father’s room, he stopped again and had what he would likely think was a terrible idea later on. Oh, Hell, he thought it was a bad idea now. He was going to steal from his father. Sure, he’d saved up some money, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough for Mr. Chau. Swallowing hard, he put a hand on the door and slowly pushed it open, willing the hinges not to squeak. Hermann eased himself into the room, barely holding back a scoff at the opulence his father surrounded himself with. Who was the real dragon, really? With a glance around the room, he spotted his father’s crown and scepter resting on a cushioned dais on the opposite side of the canopied bed. He swallowed hard and made his way across the room, nearly tripping when his foot caught on the edge of a plush rug. This was so terribly stupid, but those two items alone were worth a small fortune and their loss would likely strike a huge blow to his father’s pride.It shouldn’t be that difficult. He could do it. He pulled the shawl out from under his cloak, careful not to dislodge his bag, and tied the crown and scepter together so he could carry them more easily. After a moment of consideration, he wrapped the slack around his shoulders to carry the stolen goods alongside his bag. The combined weight of so much metal and precious stones was incredibly uncomfortable, and Hermann had no idea how his father toted the damn things around all day. By the time he was shuffling back toward the door, his hands were shaking violently and his breath was coming fast. He could hardly believe it. Hermann was about to get away with stealing the symbols of his father’s power. Hermann was so agitated with nerves, he didn’t quite open the door wide enough to get back out into the hallway. The end of the scepter knocked against the door and the crown, moved by the first impact, swung around and hit the door as well. The two strikes seemed to echo throughout the room and down the hall. Hermann froze halfway out the door, wide eyes on his father’s bed to watch for signs of movement. Then he mentally kicked himself and forced himself to move. He couldn’t afford to wait and see if his father woke. As fast as his legs would allow, Hermann scurried down the hallways, tripped his way down too many sets of stairs, and went to the stables to find a horse as fast as he could. He tried desperately to ignore the pain in what felt like the entire lower half of his body. He had to hurry, though. Karla was probably getting anxious waiting for him at the city gates.When he pulled open a stall door to one of the mares, he could hear muffled shouting and the sound of shutters and doors being thrown open. Hermann rushed to saddle the horse and pull her out of her stall without spooking her with his own panic.With one last check to his mare’s tack, Hermann made to heave himself onto the horse. And then it felt like someone punched his left leg.Hermann faltered, dropping his cane. He clung to the mare to keep from collapsing, turning his head to see what had happened. There, at the far end of the stable, was his father, half-dressed with a hunter’s bow clutched in one hand and a full quiver hanging skewed over his shoulder. He looked furious.“You! You miserable, wretched child!” Lars bellowed, startling the horses nearest to him. His father’s voice spurred him back into action. Somehow, Hermann managed to scramble onto the mare and kick her into a trot. He nearly fell off when she lunged forward. Once she started, it wasn’t hard to push the mare into a canter, and then a gallop.His father was shouting behind him, calling for the guards over the scream of frightened horses. The feeling of being punched returned in both legs, across his back and shoulder, even in one of his arms. It felt like when Bastien tried to play rough when they were younger.His mare bucked and screamed, swerving once they skidded out of the courtyard. Frantic, Hermann tugged at the reigns to get his mare onto the main road toward the gates. Before long, the pounding of hooves followed close behind him. He didn’t dare look back. It felt like forever and yet no time at all before the gates were in site, Karla standing by the lever. She saw him, and the color immediately drained from her face. His sister wrenched the lever back, the great doors creaking open just in time to let Hermann and his mare fly through. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karla sprint through the doors in the direction of the village fields. He veered off toward the woods, hoping his horse was faster than the military trained stallions, if only for the kilometer he needed to make it to the tree line. Hermann couldn’t tell if the tears blurring his vision were from the wind stinging his face or from sheer terror. The guards and his father were gaining on him, and he couldn’t kick his horse to speed up. His legs were barely squeezed around the horse to hold him on, and he was sure at least one foot had slipped a stirrup. It was all he could do to steer the mare to his meeting place with Mr. Chau. When he burst into the small clearing, his horse skidded to a halt and nearly sent him flying forward. Hermann was thrown when the mare reared back, eyes rolling with fear. He hit the ground hard and heard a few sickening snaps. The mare bolted, revealing Mr. Chau at the center of the clearing. And behind him was…“That… That’s a—” “Yeah, he’s a dragon, now let’s go, kid. Holy jeez you look fucked up.” Mr. Chau had to bodily drag him up to put him into the saddle of the great black dragon. Just as it was spreading its membranous wings, his father and the guards broke through the foliage into the clearing. Behind him, Mr. Chau clucked his tongue and they were off the ground, the dragon leaping and catching air under his wings with a few violent beats. The guards were blown back by the gusts./ Hermann heard his father cursing and screaming, growing fainter the further away from the ground they got. He was finally free. He turned his eyes to the heavens and laughed, a little hysterical. “Hey, stay with me kid. I can’t deliver you half-loony, and you still need to tell me where the hell we’re going.” Mr. Chau shifted, probably tilting his head down to look at Hermann if the brush of a bearded chin against his temple was any indication. “R-Regnodrak.” Hermann choked out. The adrenaline was wearing off quickly and now his entire body was in agony. He realized now that he’d been shot. His father shot him. Lars Gottlieb was by no means a kind man, but he’d never been physically violent to his children before.“That far east, huh? You realize there’s a hell of a lot more dragons up in those mountains, right?” Mr. Chau said, adjusting his arms to keep Hermann caged in so he didn’t slip off mid-flight. Riding side-saddle on a dragon meant he was half in the trader’s lap, pressed against him to stay balanced.Hermann shuddered, made a small sound, and promptly passed out against Mr. Chau’s broad chest.
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The first thing Hermann felt upon waking was the cold. His face hand hands were numb, almost to the point of pain. And then the actual pain set in, with an insistent throbbing along one of his arms, his back, and down his legs. He couldn’t help the shuddering breath that slipped out, bordering on a whimper.“You finally up for real this time, kid?” Mr. Chau asked over the rhythmic wingbeats of his dragon. So they were still in the air. “I-I’m not sure what that means, but y-yes, I suppose.” Hermann said quietly. He tried to shift to a more comfortable position, and immediately decided that was a bad idea when sharp pain flared up along his spine. He winced and tried to settle back to ease the pain. “Good. Means we can discuss the subject of payment.” Even though Hermann couldn’t exactly go anywhere so high up in the air, Mr. Chau still tightened an arm around him. That’s right, their agreement had been payment before travel, but there just hadn’t been time. “Oh, yes. There should be a rather gaudy crown and scepter with my bag.” He felt Hannibal nod. He was going to get beard burn on the side of his face with the way his temple was pressed against Mr. Chau’s chin. “They’re yours. Pry the gems off and melt the metal down. If they’re separated like that, they will be practically impossible to recognize.”He could feel it against his side when Mr. Chau laughed. “You’re a crafty little bastard, ain’t ya? If you didn’t have places to be, I’d consider offering you a place in my business.” It was flattering, in an odd sort of way, to receive praise for something he would never have done before now. He’d stolen valuable symbols of rule to pay his way out of the country and told this trader the best way to make money from them without getting caught. “Yes, well…” Hermann turned his head to stare down the long, dark neck of Hannibal’s rather frightening looking dragon. “Speaking of places to be,” Hermann said after a few minutes of relative silence, “how much longer do we need to go?” He had no idea how long they’d been traveling, or even how to gage their travel speed from the air. “Maybe half a day at the longest. Woulda been there yesterday if I hadn’t stopped to patch you up a bit, keep you from dying of infection or something crazy like that.” That made Hermann stop to take inventory of himself. He slowly moved his left arm to run it over his right and along his side and belly. His right arm was bound by a splint and his whole torso was wrapped in bandages. Hermann didn’t have the most extensive medical knowledge in the world, but from what he could tell, the splint and gauze wraps were fairly well done. “When… when did you do this?” It was hard to believe that someone besides Karla would take the time to treat his injuries so thoroughly. “Three days ago, soon as we got the hell out of the local area.” Hannibal seemed amused when Hermann made a surprised sound. “You were pretty out of it, kid. It was probably better that you weren’t all there until now, though, with how banged up you were.”Hermann hummed and let the conversation end. If they still had half a day of flying, then he wanted to see what the world looked like from up here before they had to land again. He would hardly believe he’d missed three whole days of this.With the way he was sitting, it was difficult to get a look at the ground, but Hermann had a feeling that he might be sick from the height if he looked down. So instead, he turned his face back to the sky, watching the changing shapes in the clouds and taking note of how the color in the sky shifted depending on how close to the horizon it was. It seemed to become more washed out the closer to the ground it was, while the open sky above remained a brilliant blue.Between one moment and the next, Hermann must have fallen asleep, because when Mr. Chau nudged him awake, the sky was orange and purple and there was a thin, misty cloud layer below them. They were in mountain country now.He frowned, turning his head as much as he could to see Mr. Chau’s face. Hermann could feel how tense the trader was, and there was a scowl on his face and deep lines on his forehead. Hermann couldn’t see his eyes under the tinted mountaineering goggles, but he didn’t need to see the man’s eyes to know something was wrong. “Mr. Chau?” He couldn’t say much more than that before he was shushed. “Shut up for a minute, kid. We got company.” Hermann turned his head to look around them, and at first, he didn’t see anything. The skies were clear all around them. Then the mists just below on either side of them rippled and churned. A pair of riders were flanking them, each of them armored and atop a pair of bulky, short necked dragons. Once or twice, they dipped back below the cloud layer, not unlike a pair of dolphins in the wake of a boat. Slowly, the pair gained altitude and rode up so that they were beside Mr. Chau’s dragon. Each face, covered by a visor, turned toward them once they were all level above the mist.Mr. Chau broke him from his stupor with a disgruntled, “Friends of yours?” He blinked a few times, then huffed. A spark of irritation flared up. “Are you talking to me? I thought you wanted me to shut up, Mr. Chau.” Hermann shifted so he could fix the trader with a put-upon glare. “Fuck, kid, what’s with the snappy attitude all of a sudden? You ain’t careful, I might be tempted to chuck you over the side.”The rider to their left shouted something at them and waved an arm in an arch. Hermann guessed they were being told to land. “Ah,” he was fairly sure he knew who these people were now. Or at the very least he hoped they were who he thought they were. “I believe those are the guards sent to escort me the rest of the way.” He hoped. “Oh, you believe so, huh? And if they’re not?” If Hermann was snappy, then Mr. Chau sounded well on his way to angry. “They should be,” Hermann shot back, ignoring the pain when he moved too much to lean away. “I was told there would be a pair of guards at the border, and there are two riders and based on what you’ve told me, we are, if fact, at the border of Regnodrak. So.” Hannibal might be a rather large and intimidating figure, but Hermann refused to be cowed by the man’s temper.He heard Mr. Chau mutter a quick, “son of a bitch,” before he felt them begin to descend. “You better hope you’re right, you brat. Something goes wrong and I’ll toss you over.” Hermann only dignified that with a scoff. He closed his eyes when they went through the thin cloud layer, and probably kept them closed longer than that so he wouldn’t have to look at the ground. Hermann gave an aborted shriek when they dove suddenly. His stomach was in his throat and he was terrified he’d slip free of his seat if not for Mr. Chau’s arms. He was almost certain the trader had done that on purpose.He was unendingly grateful when they finally landed, followed closely by the riders. The pair were quick to dismount and make their way over, their dragons snorting behind them. Hannibal released the reigns, wrapped his arms around Hermann, and pulled them both free of the saddle. Mr. Chau stayed long enough to push Hermann into the arms of the nearest rider and grab his payment. He tossed Hermann’s bag to the ground by the other rider’s feet and then he was back on his own dragon.“You’ve got some balls, kid, and I think I like you. So I’ll wish you luck with whatever the hell you’re doing.” Hannibal gave him a gold-toothed grin and urged his dragon back into the air. “See ya around, kid.” The dragon gave an awful screech, and then they were gone, a shrinking shadow in the sky. The rider holding him turned their head to call to the other. “Alexis, take his things!” That was a distinctly feminine voice, and thickly accented. Then, the rider tilted their head back down to Hermann and in a quieter voice, muffled by the visor, told him, “You will ride with me on Karloff, rybka.”While the other rider, Alexis, took Hermann’s bag and strapped it behind his saddle, Hermann had to be practically carried over to the dragon that was apparently named Karloff. Alexis had to come over eventually to help his partner get Hermann onto to dragon. As frustrating as it was, Hermann’s legs just refused to cooperate. They were aching and stiff.Alexis gave one of his ankles a pat once he and the other rider were settled. “Sasha and Karloff will be good to you. You will be safe.” This pair of guards, Sasha and Alexis, seemed serious enough, and their calm dispositions made Hermann feel better. When they took to the sky, Hermann tensed a little. These dragons jumped up before snapping their wings open, making for a slightly bumpier takeoff. But after that, the ride was fairly smooth. It didn’t take long at all after that for the mountains to come into full view. Then details stood out, and before long, Hermann could see where the main city was carved into the mountain face. It was beautiful.His heart leapt in excitement. That was his new home, where he would be happy and safe, even if the dragons everywhere did make him rather nervous. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Getting Hermann into the castle proper caused quite a bit of commotion. It seemed everyone was expecting Sasha and Alexis to come back with him if the crowd that parted for the two dragons in the courtyard was any indication. Hermann winced when Sasha helped him down from Karloff. He doubted his legs were going to cooperate with him any time soon after everything that had happened in the last week. There was so much noise and so many people clustering toward them to get a closer look. Hermann curled into himself, grateful when Sasha yelled at the closest people to back off. Alexis wasn’t far behind when Sasha started toward the gates to the inside.Hermann clung to Sasha for dear life, not trusting his legs to keep him up without help. He could hear Alexis calling for a medic. Everything was a blur of movement and shouting until Hermann was lowered into a bed and given space. His bag was placed at the foot of the bed and his cloak was pulled out from under him. Sasha and Alexis removed their helmets to offer kind smiles. Hermann was stunned for a moment. They were both stunningly beautiful, with almost white hair and kind, yet sharp eyes.“It’s alright, rybka,” Sasha told him. “Just give your name and ask for asylum. Then you will be safe.” She patted his shoulder and stepped away. “A medic will be here soon to look you over also.” Alexis said as he reached from the door. As the two of them slid out, more people came in, some dressed in armor like Sasha and Alexis, others in fine and official looking clothes.Hermann swallowed, eyeing this new group of people warily. A shorter man with grey shot through his brown hair stepped forward. He was wearing heavy brocade and leathers, a circlet resting on his brow. Was this the king? A bit older than Hermann was expecting, and much calmer than all the excitable words exchanged in their letters belied. “It’s alright, son. Nobody here is going to hurt you. My name is Jacob. I’m standing in for my son, Newt, since he isn’t here yet. Just give your statement and we can go from there.”Hermann wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or upset that Newt wasn’t here. He took a calming breath and tried to sit up straight in the bed. “M-my name is Hermann Gottlieb, and I wish to seek asylum.”All of a sudden, the room became tense and quiet. The man—Jacob—who had seemed so comforting before, now looked as if he were facing an enemy on the battlefield. Everyone there was stony-faced, and it set Hermann on edge. Had he said something wrong?“Gottlieb?” Jacob finally said. His tone was heavy, almost accusatory. He felt like sinking down the bed and hiding under the blankets under the weight of Jacob’s gaze. “Yes,” Hermann said quietly, lowering his eyes. Jacob’s growing wrath reminded him too much of his own father’s and he braced himself for an angry, hurtful lecture. Instead, Jacob turned his back to address one of the armored guards in the room. “Keep him under watch. He is not to leave this room until we can decide what to do with him.” The guard nodded to show they understood the orders and Jacob swept out of the room, followed by most of the other people there. The guard left the room, too, but it was likely they stopped just outside the door.Hermann stared after them long after the door shut and cut them out of view. He felt sick, like his stomach was twisted and full of rocks. What had he done? What made everyone so upset when all he’d asked for was a safe place to live? And why the hell did he need someone to keep him in the room? Did he look like he was in any shape to go running around? Hermann’s shock was quickly turning to anger the longer he was left to himself. Hermann was interrupted from his fuming some time later when a woman came into the room, followed by the guard from before. She set down a canvas bag next to the bed and began to unpack things like thick gauze wraps and pots of strong smelling salve. “Hello,” she began when she finally looked up at Hermann. “My name is Alison. I’m going to see if I can fix you up.” Alison seemed nice enough and worked quickly and carefully. She marveled at the patch up job Mr. Chau did as she cleaned the wounds and rebandaged them. The only time she paused at all was when she got to his legs and back. Hermann knew it looked awful. There more knotted scar tissue than actual skin on his legs, and ugly divots where skin had healed over missing muscle. He appreciated it more than he could say when she didn’t try to make him talk about it. Alison just continued to treat the new wounds as if he were any other patient.“I, um. I’m going to need a cane. I lost the one I had before I came here.” Herman told her when she set the clip on the last roll of bandages on one of his legs. Alison looked up and studied his face for a moment before nodding. “I’ll see about getting your measurements for a new one, then.” It was a bit of a chore to stand for proper measurements, but it was necessary, and it was only a matter of seconds for Alison to whip out a tape and press it from his wrist to the floor next to his foot. He sat back heavily as Alison wrote down the results and packed up all of her supplies, offering him a half smile. “Any preference on material?” She asked once her bag was slung back over her shoulder. Hermann did his best to shrug without disturbing any of the new bandages. “Just something durable and light, I’m not particular.” Alison gave him another smile and left, escorted out by the guard so that Hermann was left alone once again. He stared at the door for a few minutes, but nobody else came back. Hermann settled back into bed and finally took the chance to look around the room. It was relatively sparse, with only the bed on one side of the room and a desk with a few sheaves of paper and an ink well on the other. There was a small window opposite the door, but there were heavy curtains drawn over it so that Hermann couldn’t see out. Closing his eyes, Hermann pulled up the covers almost over his face. Tears burned at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. He was still asleep on one of the dragons and hadn’t really arrived yet. Or perhaps he was still in his own bed and had never even left at all. If he just fell asleep now, then maybe he would wake up and everything would be right again. Hermann woke to someone nudging his shoulder. It took him a moment to come out of sleep, vision blurry and mind foggy. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep. When his eyes finally came to focus, he saw what woke him up. Sasha was standing over him, a hand still on his shoulder to shake him awake. She stepped back when she saw he was pushing himself to sit up. “Good to see you are still alive, rybka. We weren’t sure after what the king’s father said.” She went to the desk and pulled the chair up to Hermann’s bedside. It seemed she was going to stay for a while. “What’s going on?” Hermann asked once she was seated. Sasha gave him a long look before she seemed to decide on something, nodding to herself. “You are a Gottlieb, yes? Gottliebs are dragon slayers. Here and in the rest of the world we have many dragons here that we work with, that we are friends with, or that we see as family.” Hermann stared down at his lap, twisting his fingers together. “I’ve never killed a dragon, though, and I’ve never wanted to.” The entire reason he ran away was to escape that fate, and yet, here it was following him to what would have been a new home. Maybe it would have been better if he had just resigned himself to his short future back home. He was drawn out of his morose thoughts when Sasha put a hand over Hermann’s. He noticed that, like the rest of her, Sasha’s hands were big. “Many here will still see you as a murderer by association, even if they believe what you say. Your family has done many horrible things to dragons. If you wish to leave, Alexis and I will help.” “Leave and go where? If the rest of the world is like it is here, I’ll be treated like a criminal. If I go home…” He didn’t know what would happen if he went home. Nothing good, he thought. “If you wish to stay then we will try to help, too. You are a good man, I can tell.” Hermann looked up, dark eyes wide. Sasha shot him a grin wide enough to show off a fair number of teeth. He wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make him feel better or intimidate him. “Don’t worry rybka. You have friends with me and with Alexis.”Well, at least he wasn’t alone here. Sasha promised him that she and Alexis would come visit him as much as they could during his recovery. She even promised to sneak him treats and books if he wanted, and that made him smile. She couldn’t stay long, since she had to go back to work and look after her dragon, but that was fine. Hermann felt better than he had when he first arrived, and he didn’t want to get Sasha in trouble.Those were the bright spots in his days confined to that dull room, getting visits from friendly faces. True to their word, they brought him little sweets and the occasional book, which he made sure to hide from the door guard, lest they be taken away from him. Alison made frequent visits, too, to check how his wounds were healing and sometimes keep him company when she had the time. Most of the arrow wounds were gone by the end of the month, leaving only small pink scars in their wake. His arm took longer to heal, but Alison told him it was nothing to worry over, that he was still healing remarkably well. She was friendly with him, too, especially after the first few visits. He learned that she loved to read and was interested in weapons as well as medical tools. She said it helped her treat wounds if she knew about the kinds of things that caused them. It made sense to Hermann.“Why are you so nice to me?” Hermann asked on the day Alison finally took his arm out of the splint. “Surely you’ve heard where I’m from and who my family is by now.” But Alison just looked unimpressed. “You could be your great great grandfather, Friedrich Gottlieb himself and I would still tend to you, because that’s my job as a doctor. But you seem like a good sort and you keep up a decent conversation, so of course I’m nice to you.”She leaned in and glanced around like she was going to share some great secret with him. “Besides,” she continued, more quietly now, “my great grandfather was from the south, so my family has faced similar problems here. He was only a little boy when his family fled from the first campaign against dragons.”“It might take a little longer, considering your family history, but I think people here will warm up to you.” Alison wrapped up the splint and wiped down Hermann’s arm, checking it over one last time before she deemed him fully healed. “Just don’t do anything too wild like swing a sword around with that arm.” She joked. “You know, I don’t think I could swing a sword around even if I were completely well.” He snarked back, lifting both of his arms up to make his point. Alison laughed at that. “On another note, I should have your new cane ready the next time I come by. I think you’ll like it.” Which meant he would finally be able to walk around outside of this room. It meant he would have to have an audience with the royals and their officials to decide what would be done with him. “Thank you,” Hermann said instead of voicing his anxiety. Once Alison was gone, he made his way over to the desk and stared down at the paper. He sat heavily and opened up the ink well. While he fiddled with the pen tip, he thought about what he could possibly say. He promised Karla he would write to her when he arrived, and it had already been two months since arriving here. He wasn’t sure Karla would like what he had to say about his time here, though. Not to mention it would be risky trying to send out his ornithopter.He shook his head and dipped the pen into the ink.
Karla,
I have arrived in Regnodrak, though I won’t say I arrived safely. I’ve been here for a few months now, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay. It seems our father and our family’s line in general doesn’t inspire warm feelings. I wonder if you’re facing similar sentiments where you are? I have made a few friends here, despite being confined to a single room. I suppose things could be worse, but I can’t help but think leaving might have been a mistake.
He stopped writing and crumpled the paper and tossed it aside. Karla would kill him herself if she saw that. She wouldn’t want to hear him doubt himself. He missed her terribly and longed for her rough brand of affection. If only they had gone together… But no, they wanted different things from life, and Hermann couldn’t rely on his sister for everything. It was better this way, and Hermann could deal with his own trouble.He abandoned the desk and went back to his bed.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When the world was new, there was nothing. The land was barren and fierce storms blocked out the sun. But from the ice and storm came Nirna, first of the Drakkani. For centuries She was content to roam the world alone, but eventually She began to grow bitter in Her loneliness, falling into a rage at the world that offered Her nothing. Nirna threw Herself to the ground, scoring Her hide on the ice until it was red and melting from Her burning blood. So great were Her bitter tears that She flooded the land below. With Her claws, She tore the land asunder so that mountains and ravines came to be and Her claws were broken in the dirt.
From Her blood came the red clay of the west, and Wula was born. From the salt of Her tears the southern oceans sprang up, and Senna was born. From Her shattered claws the mountains of the east were formed, and Eoma was born. Thus, Drakkani Nirna of the North brought life into the world.
–Excerpt from The Original History of the Drakkani, Author UnknownThe day after Alison delivered Hermann’s new cane, he was allowed outside with an escort. He spent a lot of time marveling at the cane, though he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the material. Alison told him it had been made with dragon bone, willingly given. But it worried him that people here would be upset given his dragon slayer family history. The guard trailing him was different from the guard at the door, despite their identical uniforms and identical faces. This guard kept a respectful distance, at least, while Hermann wandered around trying not to get lost.After making his way through stone carved hallways and occasionally asking his guard for directions, Hermann made his way to what looked like a courtyard. A courtyard that happened to have a dragon in it. He’d seen a few dragons by now, but this one looked particularly fierce. It fixed Hermann with a gleaming green stare that felt strong enough to see right through to his soul.He was so caught up with the dragon he didn’t even realize the person standing next to one of the great, clawed wings. It was the voice that finally caught his attention. “Otachi, are you trying to scare people off again?” Despite the question, the man’s tone was indulgent and fond, as if this happened often. “Sorry about her. She’s just grumpy that we came back earlier than I promised.” The man stepped forward and grinned at Hermann. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. I’m Newt.” And wasn’t that just peachy. This was the king with whom he’d exchanged so many letters, who was supposed to help him. Hermann tightened his grip on the handle of his cane and swallowed. “Hermann.” He said quietly, trying desperately to keep the tremor out of his voice. “My name is Hermann.”And just like that, the smile fell from Newt’s face. “Oh,” was the uncertain reply that followed. Newt’s expression was becoming more and more troubled, and Hermann had a sinking feeling this wouldn’t turn out well. They stood there for a while, Hermann struggling to keep his eyes on Newt’s face. The worst part of all this was how friendly and reassuring people were before they knew about him. Hermann thought maybe it would be better if people were just distant to begin with, so it wouldn’t hurt so much when their attitudes changed.Newt scuffed his foot and sighed. “So you’re the dragon slayer.” Hermann felt his face flush with indignant anger. Dragon slayer, dragon slayer. That was all anybody thought of when they heard his name. “I am not a dragon slayer. Do you really think I look capable of killing one?” As mad as Hermann was, he scrambled back a few steps when Newt’s dragon opened her mouth to show off her teeth and hissed at him. While Otachi flared her wings, Newt advanced to close the gap between them until he was close enough for Hermann to reach out and touch if he wanted.“I think you don’t have to look capable to be capable.” Newt’s eyes were sharp, almost the same shade of green as his dragon’s. “I think you planned to come here to advance the campaigns of the south, work from the inside to make us weak. I think you could do a hell of a lot of damage with magic if we let you. I think you sent all of those letters to find an in so you could wreck another kingdom.”Hermann wanted to fight back, scream that, no, he’d come here to get away from the senseless death and the cruelty of his father, that he barely had enough magical ability to make his ornithopter fly. But it was all stuck in his throat. All he could do was try to edge away from Newt and run for the nearest door. He didn’t care if he got lost or that he was ditching his guard. Hermann was certain, now. Coming here was a mistake.It felt like he’d been walking for hours, but as long as he could avoid people for a while, he didn’t mind not knowing where he was. The more he moved around the harder it would be for someone to find him and take him back to his room. One of the doors Hermann walked past made him pause, though. He backpedaled to look up at the huge double doors with gilded handles. Something about those doors or maybe the room behind them compelled him to stop and at least take a look. Slowly, Hermann reached out to pull the door open, closing his eyes at the rush of air.When he opened his eyes again, Hermann was sure he’d stumbled into paradise. There were books everywhere, filling shelves that went from floor to ceiling through the entire room. And it was a huge room, even bigger than the great hall in his father’s castle. There were tables flanked with cushy chairs, love seats and couches strewn randomly between shelves, and even a few sill seats at the massive windows. In short, it was the most beautiful room Hermann had seen in his life. A prickling feeling crawled up Hermann’s spine, reaching all the way to his scalp and the tips of his fingers. It reminded him of how it felt when he magicked his ornithopter, only far more intense.Hermann was drawn out of his reverie when another man came waved to him from behind a large desk just to the left of the doors. “Hey there, brother. Can I help you find anything?” The man swept a hand back toward the numerous book shelves. Really, he would have refused, if he had the chance to. But the man’s face lit up and he got up to walk over. “You’re Hermann Gottlieb, aren’t you?” That made Hermann do a double take. People didn’t usually smile here when they knew who he was, with the exception of the Kaidanovskys and Alison. “Yes,” Hermann said slowly. If anything, the man’s smile only grew. “I thought so,” he told Hermann. “Alison was going on about you and the cane she had made for you. It’s pretty well made, and even if dragon bones are given willingly, they’re still crazy expensive. Hard to miss, brother.” Then the man blinks a few times and shakes his head. “Sorry. The name’s Tendo. I’ve heard so much about you from my wife I kind of forgot we’ve never actually met.”That made Hermann blink. “Alison is your wife?” Tendo got a lovestruck look over his face at Hermann’s question. “Yes she is, and I’m the luckiest man in the world for it.” Hermann followed when Tendo motioned him over to the desk and figured that someone who married to Alison was trustworthy and likely wouldn’t run him out. Tendo disappeared behind his desk and came back up again, nearly staggering under the weight of the stack of the books he had. “These,” Tendo told him and he heaved the stack onto the desk top, “are all the books the Kaidanovskys told me to put on reserve for you. You can look through them and check out any of them that interest you.” He pushed the stack toward Hermann so he could see them all. “And if you need any help finding more books, I’ll be here. Just don’t damage or lose any of these babies and we’ll be best friends.”Hermann could feel a smile pulling at him mouth as he sorted through the books on the desk and took four of them, taking them over to one of the tables by a window so he could start reading. He could see himself spending days at a time in here, tucked into a corner surrounded by more books than he though could exist in one place. Hermann opened the first book and traced his finger over the lettering and the constellation printed under the introduction text. Hours later, Newt came in through the door. Tendo stood abruptly from where he’d been filling out a book order request. “Is he in here?” Newt asked when he got to Tendo’s desk. “Hermann? Yeah, he’s been in here nearly half the day. Why, is he not supposed to be?” Tendo frowned, glancing over to the far corner where Hermann was. “Well he’s supposed to be with a guard, so he doesn’t do anything.” Newt followed Tendo’s gaze and took a step toward the corner. When Tendo put a hand on Newt’s shoulder to stop him, Newt was surprised. “I don’t think he’s going to do anything, brother. All he’s done is read a lot of books on stars.” Tendo squeezed Newt’s shoulder. “I get that you’re worried and that you have a duty to protect the people in this kingdom, but so far he hasn’t done anything to warrant surveillance. Alison likes him, even the Kaidanovskys like him. You know how hard it is for them to like anyone.”Tendo let go of Newt and gave him a pat on the shoulder before he went back to his desk. “I’m not saying you give him the run of the kingdom, but maybe ease up a bit. Just think on it.”Newt stood there quietly, glancing back to the corner again before he turned and left. He had some thinking to do.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When the weather finally started to warm up, Hermann was grateful. It meant the constant ache in his hips was letting up a bit and he could stand to walk through the hallways without nearly collapsing under the weight of all the coats the Kaidanovskys piled onto him. They saw him shivering once and immediately made it their mission to bury Hermann under enough coats and furs to make a bear jealous. He had a guard with him almost constantly, still, and Hermann had made it a game for himself to guess which triplet was following him around for the day. Sometimes he would try to talk to them, with varying levels of success. All of the triplets were nice enough, if not wary and quiet, but Hermann supposed that was more than he’d expected when they first started escorting him.“Hey there, star man.” Tendo greeted when Hermann slid through the library door. The librarian was already getting up so he could move one of the ladders over to the shelves with space books. Hermann had stopped having to ask for the ladder about two weeks into his frequent library visits. That was about how long it took for Tendo to gift him with that nickname.Hermann almost smiled when Tendo patted the ladder. “All yours, brother.” Tendo turned and began to walk back to his desk when he stopped suddenly and looked back over his shoulder. “Oh, I forgot to tell you last time, but we’re going to get in a new shipment in the next few days. It’s supposed to have some books on star charts and stuff.” He grinned when he saw he had Hermann’s complete attention. “I can send you a notice the second the shipment comes in, if you want.” Tendo told him, chuckling a little when Hermann nodded with an excited, “yes please.” “Sure thing, star man. Happy reading.” Once he was alone again, Hermann took a moment to run his fingers along the spines of the books on the lower shelf, reveling in the slightly rough feeling of the covers. Then, he rested his cane against the shelf and scaled the ladder to look through the books on the higher shelves to see what caught his fancy. A prickling feeling made him stop halfway from pulling a book about constellations down from the shelf. Slowly, Hermann pushed the book back into place, stepping up a few more rungs to reach the top shelf. The books up here had a thin layer of dust on them, like they hadn’t been touched in a while save for a brief cleaning every now and then. Hermann shivered when the prickle reached the back of his neck just below his skull. He reached out, brushing the dust from one of the spines so he could see the title.“Prophetic Stars and Scrying Pools,” Hermann read, frowning. That didn’t have anything to do with the scientific study of celestial bodies. He cleared the dust away from some of the other books he could reach and found similar titles. “Reading Stars for the Beginning Seer,” “The Auger’s Stars: Interpreting Celestial Messages,” and “Divining Fate with Sacred Pools and Constellations.” Curious, Hermann slid some of the books from their slots of the shelf, balancing them carefully in one arm so he could step down the rungs of the ladder and get back to his table. He settled himself in the chair closest to the window and rubbed his thumb at the corner of one of the books. He was just about to flip open the cover when a commotion at the front of the room caught his attention. Someone was yelling in the library. Hermann stood up and peered around the side of the shelf to see who was making so much noise in what was supposed to be a quiet place. There were two people at the entryway with Tendo, who was apparently trying to quiet the one who was shouting. Hermann got a better look at the pair when Tendo moved to the side. There was a very angry looking young man, likely the cause of the commotion, and next to him was a young woman who looked somewhere between tolerant and annoyed, as though she was used to dealing with such outbursts. The two of them were coming over toward the back tables where Hermann was hiding, and he had to scramble to get back to his table and pick up one of his books, so it didn’t look like he’d been watching them.They sat down two tables away. The young man practically threw himself into the chair, and it almost reminded Hermann of when Bastien was younger and prone to tantrums. He could hear the young man grumbling something about a “Raleigh,” whatever that was, and though he couldn’t hear what the young woman was saying, it was obvious from the young man’s responses and gradual grudging calm that they were having a conversation. The young woman, who Hermann could now see had an odd blue stripe in her hair, glanced away from her companion. With a start, Hermann realized she was staring right at him. The young man turned his head to follow the young woman’s gaze and glared at Hermann. He sunk down in his chair when the young man stood up and started making his way over to Hermann’s table.“You got a problem? Huh?” The young man had a thick accent and it took Hermann a moment to piece together what had been said. The young woman came up behind the angry young man and put a hand on his arm. “Don’t mind Chuck,” she told him. “He’s just in a bad mood.” The young man, Chuck, crossed his arms and shot a half-hearted glare at the girl. She stepped forward and extended a hand to Hermann. “My name is Mako.”Cautious, Hermann took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “Hermann. It’s, ah, nice to meet you, Ms. Mako. And… Chuck?”Chuck looked like he wanted to start an argument, until he saw the books on Hermann’s table. Then he flicked his gaze back to Hermann’s eyes for an almost uncomfortably long time. “Mind if we sit?” Chuck asked, knocking the leg of one of the chairs with his foot so it could be pulled out.“I suppose that’s alright.” Hermann said, stacking his books to make more room at the table. “You into magic?” Chuck gestured at the books Hermann had moved. Hermann glanced down at the books and ran a finger over the cover of the top book. “Not exactly. I can barely enchant a bird sized machine. Finding these were… accidental.” The answer seemed acceptable to Chuck, but Mako leaned forward onto her elbows. “Maybe you’re trying to use the wrong kind of magic. One of the prospective air patrol students we know is very good with constructive magic, and the king is particularly well known for using destructive magic.” Hermann blinked and tried to take that in. “There are different kinds of magic?” He didn’t particularly like the looks Chuck and Mako gave him for asking. Chuck, in particular, was looking at Hermann like he was stupid. “Uh, yeah there are different kinds. Everyone knows that.”It was quiet for a moment while Hermann deliberated on how to handle this without blowing up. “No, not everyone knows that. In the south, and especially in Regnomare, the use and teaching of magic is strongly discouraged at best. So.” He sat up as straight, silently daring Chuck to push. Mako broke the tension when she got up. “I can find some books on magic in general for you. Chuck used to ask me to find them all the time, so he could impress Raleigh.” And Chuck went flying back into a temper. Hermann was almost impressed at how quickly the boy swung between moods in the short time he’d known him. Mako was gone for a few minutes, leaving Chuck and Hermann to sit in turbulent silence. She came back with Tendo in two with stacks of books so tall Hermann couldn’t see their faces. Tendo, bless him, didn’t ask questions after he set the books down. He just gave the three of them a mock salute and went on his way. Mako smiled when she took her seat again. “We can help you learn all about magic, and maybe about dragons and the history of the east.” She pushed some of the books toward Hermann before sitting back. “And in return you can tell us about the south. Deal?” Hermann couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. Even with all of the negative feelings here, Hermann had talked to more people now than he had in his life back home. He swallowed and eventually nodded. “That sounds fair.” They all decided to wait another day to begin their unofficial lessons, so that they could make the most of their time and work out a schedule around Chuck’s and Mako’s actual schooling. By the time they left Hermann at the table, he was surrounded by books and eager to start reading. He wanted to have at least basic concepts down before they met again. A while later, Tendo came by again. “You know you can take some of those books out of the library, right? You don’t have to stay in here. I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to get rid of you or anything, but most people don’t spend nearly this much time in here.” Hermann hummed, but he didn’t look up from the book he had open in front of him. “That’s alright. I like it here just fine.” The library felt safe to him, and it was much more inviting than his tiny room without being as exposed as any of the courtyards. Tendo made a noncommittal sound and continued on his circuit around the library.When the words started swimming on the page, Hermann decided it was probably time to go back to his room. His guard saw when he started putting his books away and stood to follow him out of the library. If Hermann spent a lot of time in the library before, he spent almost all of his time there now. Once he started spending time with Mako and Chuck, he started branching out in the books he pulled down to read. He learned that Chuck and Mako were training to join the kingdom’s air patrol, and that the infamous Raleigh was only a few years ahead of them in training. Hermann swore he learned almost as much about Raleigh as he did magic and eastern geography. Raleigh still didn’t have his own dragon yet. Raleigh had stupidly perfect hair. Raleigh was good at staff sparing but Chuck was sure he could take the guy in a fist fight. Raleigh was all Chuck seemed to talk about. While Chuck went to go grab a book on the regional variants of dragon breeds, Hermann leaned over to Mako and asked, “So does he actually hate this Raleigh fellow? I’ve never heard anyone talk this much about another person, no matter how they feel about them.” Mako smiled and shook her head. “Chuck either wants to be Raleigh or wants to be with Raleigh. I don’t think he’s decided which one yet.” They both sat up straight in their chairs when Chuck came back and dropped down into his chair again. Today they were going over geography and how the land affected dragon form and magical ability.To Hermann, it felt like trying to puzzle out a pattern. The dragons, at least, made sense. Near the south where there were mostly large bodies of water, ie: the ocean, dragons were built to be at least semi-aquatic. Dragons in the north had thick pelts to withstand the cold, though Hermann thought it odd that northern dragons had a mix of fur and feathers. But what he didn’t understand was the pattern of distribution in magical ability per geographical region. Metalokinesis, or binging machinery to ‘life’ with enchantments was apparently most often found along the border areas. It meant Hermann, who had lived his whole life by the sea far away from border lands, was a bit of an outlier, despite the apparent weakness of that particular brand of magic.According to Mako it wasn’t uncommon to have more than one type of magic, or for one to be stronger or come more easily than another. But of course, as much as Hermann wanted to lose himself to scientific inquiry, he had to keep his promise to talk about what life in the south was like. Hermann told them about the beaches where he and his siblings used to play, about watching the fishermen come in with their hauls for the local market and for merchant trade when it was available. He told them about the tutors Karla used to pull pranks on. Chuck and Mako seemed especially enamored by Hermann’s description of the most celebrated holidays in the south.“But what about the dragons? Why does everyone kill them in the south?” Chuck finally asked, leaning forward in his seat, looking both uncomfortable and eager at the same time. Hermann sighed. He had a feeling this topic would come up eventually. “Well, not that it makes this any better, but not everyone kills dragons.” Hermann started. “Only the first-born sons or family heirs are expected to kill a dragon, and even then, only the highborn are required to.” Mako and Chuck seemed to accept this well enough. “Any you’re not the oldest, right? Since you came here?” Chuck asked, looking hopeful. Hermann wasn’t sure why.Hermann fiddled with the corner of a book cover, looking down at his lap. “I have an older brother, yes. I’m the third of four children in my family.” He paused for a moment and looked back up to Chuck and Mako. They looked so relieved, and it made something twist in Hermann’s stomach. He couldn’t tell them his father wanted to send him out to face a dragon anyway. As friendly as they were with him—friendly being a relative term in Chuck’s case—they were still children, and there were some things you couldn’t tell children. Daddy issues were one of those things.The rest of the afternoon was spent on more lighthearted conversation. Part of it about the latest thing Raleigh had said or done to piss Chuck off, part of it about training in general, and some was back on the topic of magic and dragons. They had to leave eventually, and once again, Hermann was left to himself with only the books on the table to keep him company. At this point, Hermann was starting to suspect he’d end up fused to the chair with how much time he spent in it. It felt like he lived at the library, really.By the time Hermann finally put all the books away after he was done reading, it was well and truly night. He’d stayed so late that day his guard had fallen asleep on one of the couches and Tendo was long gone. He knew he should probably wake his guard to be escorted back to his room, but… It wasn’t that long of a walk back to his room, and it’s not like he went anywhere else. If someone went looking for him, he wouldn’t be hard to find./ The only problem was, everything looked different in the dark.Hermann had no idea where he was after he left the library. He should have passed through the courtyard by now, but no such luck. He shied away from the deep shadows and jumped at every little noise. By the time he came out into another open area, he was exhausted and his hips ached horribly.It looked like he’d come to a ledge that extended out a little way from the path, and ahead there was some sort of cave. Hermann shuddered when the prickling feeling came back, stronger than ever. He took a halting step forward and immediately froze when a pair of large eyes appeared in the dark of the cave. They were luminous in the weak light.“What are you doing out at this time of night, child?” Came a voice. It sounded elderly, and about as tired as Hermann felt. “I-I’m lost. I didn’t mean to intrude.” There was a rumbling sound and slowly, an ax shaped head came from the shadows. It was attached to a stocky neck and shoulders, but beyond that, the silhouette was lost to the cave shadows. Hermann stood absolutely still as the dragon turned its head so that one gleaming eye was turned toward him, appraising. The dragon snorted and lowered its head a little. “You may stay with me for the night, child. Come and rest. You’ll yet find your way, I’m sure.” Then, the dragon retreated into the cave, leaving Hermann to gape for a few seconds before he decided to take the old thing up on its offer. He’d never find his way back to his room in the middle of the night.He shuffled in and eased himself down, only startling when the dragon scooted him closer with a thick tail. Hermann leaned back against the old dragon’s leathery hid and stared out from the entrance to the cave. The stars were beautiful in the mountains, so much brighter here than at home.Under the light of the moon, an odd sort of buzzing feeling spread through his limbs, though he didn’t quite have the wherewithal at the moment to be worried about it. He stared intently at the stars until he felt his eyes droop. He closed his eyes, just for a moment.
When he opened them again, he found himself staring down into a clear pool of water. Countless stars framed his reflection in the glassy pool, some he recognized, but most were foreign to him. Hermann turned his head away from the water to take in the colossal dragon beside him. He was barely the size of one of Her blunt talons. He tilted his head back to gaze up into one of her eyes, the same black as his own eyes. She had been watching the water as well but turned a dark eye to him when She felt his attention on Her.
“What do you see?” He asked Her. Hermann’s voice sounded far away in his own head. The great dragon leaned down and breathed onto the water, making it restless. A cloud formed over the surface before dissipating and settling the water.
When She spoke, it was with the voice of millions. “I see all that was, all that is, and all that has yet to come. Through Me, you will see as well.” Hermann felt paralyzed under her black gaze, unable to look away, until all he knew was Her.
Hermann didn’t scream when he woke up. Really, he didn’t. Well, maybe he had, a bit. But he was fairly certain he’d only screamed once. When his bleary eyes came into focus, the first thing he saw was Newt, flat on his ass and pressed against one side of the cave’s entryway. He must have scared Newt. Suddenly, Hermann felt absolutely exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days. Newt was getting to his feet by the time Hermann remembered where he was. He turned his head and squinted at the old dragon next to him. It was still asleep. “What are you doing here with Trespasser?” Newt asked, coming closer again. “Everyone has been trying to find you all morning.” Hermann frowned up at him, pressing himself against the dragon’s side. “I got lost when I tried to walk back to my room last night.” Hermann sniped. Newt gave him a look that was somewhere between baffled and annoyed. “Really? Why didn’t you wake Jin up then? He’s your escort for a reason, you know. To keep you from wandering off and doing stuff you shouldn’t be doing.”“I thought I knew the way back by now, and it’s not like I normally go very far. It was just dark.” He still took offense that Newt thought he would intentionally do harm here. Hell, Hermann had been living here for months already and nothing had happened. He shook his head, hoping that would chase away some of his exhaustion, but it only made his head swim.When he opened his eyes again, Newt didn’t look very convinced. “Look,” Hermann said tiredly, “Just help me up and you can take me back to my room yourself.” Staying down here on the ground wasn’t doing his body any favors, no matter how warm Trespasser the dragon was. Newt eyed him for a minute before reaching his hands out. Hermann took his hands and let himself be hauled up, wincing the whole way.Trespasser cracked an eye open at them and made a rumbling sound, but otherwise didn’t protest the minor disturbances happening beside him. The walk back to Hermann’s room was quiet, if not a little awkward. Hermann hated that he kept stumbling. He was dead on his feet and felt there was a serious risk of him falling asleep in the middle of walking. Once they reached the courtyard, Hermann moved to take the lead. He knew where he was now, even if he still had no clue how he’d gotten lost in the first place. Newt stopped when they got to the door of Hermann’s room and took a breath. “For obvious reasons,” he began, scuffing a foot against the flagstone. “I think the wedding should be postponed. For… probably a while.” Hermann blinked at him owlishly. It took a beat for the words to sink in. “Are you sending me away then?” His attempt to sound angry fell short. To his own ears his voice was brittle.“No! Did you listen at all? I said postponed, not cancelled.” Newt ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up at odd angles. “I thought about it, and I figured maybe this can still happen somehow. I don’t know. You haven’t really done anything, so maybe it would be okay to give you a chance.”Maybe it was the exhaustion making him feel so short tempered, or maybe it was the accumulation of months of being treated with disdain, but Hermann lost his temper. “Give me a chance? Oh, how gracious of you, your majesty, for bestowing your kindness on this poor, wretched southerner.” Hermann shoved his way past Newt and yanked his door open. “Come back when you feel we can have a conversation where you aren’t threatening me or-or demeaning me.” With that, He slammed the door in Newt face and fell face first into bed.His eyes were burning, but Hermann was asleep before any proper tears could make their way out.
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When mortals began to walk the earth, the Drakkani became curious. They longed to walk among these creatures whose lives were so bright and yet so short. But what form should they take? Nirna, oldest of the four said they should take the form of the white bear, for it was hardy and strong. Senna wanted the seal, for it was resourceful and clever. Eoma suggested the raven, for it was not only a willful and mischievous creature, it was close to the beloved sky. Wula, however, chose humans. They had many of the traits the other Drakkani wanted and more, She reasoned. After some debate, the Drakkani were in agreement that they would see the world through the eyes of humans.
Each took a fragment of Themselves and bestowed them amongst humans, granting them also the gifts of Their sacred language, magic, and long life. Through these few, the Drakkani could experience mortality, and humanity’s own brand of immortality. Through lineage, blood and magic were preserved. Thus, Drakkani Wula of the West brought the Drakka and magic into the world.
—Excerpt from The Original History of the Drakkani, Author Unknown When Newt and Hermann met again, it was in the library. Hermann was near frantic, flipping through the multitude of books open in front of him on the table, occasionally grabbing at a book from one of the stacks piled around him to add to the ones on the table. He looked harried and pale.Newt was staring, unsure of what to make of the scene before him. Tendo came up next to him to share in his bemusement. “He’s been like that ever since the night he got lost. Won’t say what he’s looking for.” Newt could tell it sort of bothered Tendo. Humming to himself, Newt edged closer to get a look at the books Hermann had to see if that wouldn’t tell him what was going on. When Hermann moved one of the books, a sheet of paper was disturbed and slid from the table top.It was a simple drawing of a dragon. Newt extended a foot and used it to toe the paper closer so he could pick it up. Upon further inspection, he could make out more details, like the three stubby pairs of legs, what looked like an eel’s tail, and multiple fronds haloing the dragon’s head. But the only images Newt could remember of this dragon were kept safely in the vault archive underground, only taken out for public viewing on special occasions. “Did you draw this?” Newt asked, finally stepping close so he was right next to Hermann’s chair. He winced a little when Hermann looked up, revealing blood-shot dark eyes underlined by heavy bags. The picture was snatched out of his hand when he held it out. “Yes. I’ve been looking for something similar here, but I can’t find anything.” Hermann’s voice was rough, like he hadn’t spoken for a long time. Newt and Tendo shared a look. After a moment of consideration, Newt spoke again. “I know where you can.” He said to Hermann, then turning to Tendo, Newt asked, “You still have the vault keys, right?”Tendo nodded and when to retrieve the keys while Newt carefully began shutting some of the books so they could be put away later. “Hey, come on. These aren’t going to help you.” He paused at the glare Hermann shot him. He maybe kind of deserved that. He still didn’t trust Hermann, but he had been kind of a jerk. But after a brief stare down, Hermann grabbed his cane and made to stand. His movements were stiff, which made Newt wonder how long the guy had been sitting there with those books.The walk from the library to the vault was tense and awkward, and Tendo, apparently trying to avoid all that, was walking a good six feet in front of Newt and Hermann. Newt bit his lip, trying to work himself back to anger, or even annoyance at Hermann’s presence. But it just wasn’t happening. He’d heard plenty from Tendo about how supposedly great Hermann was and how many people liked him. Hearing that the Kaidanovskys took to him was surprising, but then hearing a few weeks later that even Chuck, the angriest and most untrusting person Newt had ever met, at least tolerated Hermann was a downright shock. When Head Ranger Hansen told Newt that Chuck was going on about Raleigh and Hermann at home, Newt hadn’t been sure whether he should laugh or choke. The pressure was just starting to squeeze at his ears when Newt spoke. “Hey… Do you maybe wanna… start over?” He knew there were a lot of reasons they hadn’t gotten on well in the beginning, but Newt felt a little guilty. Hermann had seemed pretty miserable, and he’d proven to be a decent guy so far. He bit his lip and glanced up to see Hermann eyeing him up, obviously wary.“So, like, hi. I’m Newton Geiszler, reigning king of Regnodrak. Call me Newt. Nice to meet you in person after all those letters.” The non-threatening look he gave Hermann was hopefully convincing. The silence that stretched between them was almost painful, and Newt blew out a breath between his teeth. He turned his head back to face forward and focus on the rest of the walk. Well, that was a bust. Understandable, but disappointing.“Hermann Gottlieb, second prince of Regnomare.” Hermann still looked pretty sour, but it was a start. “Uh, Regnomare, huh. So what’s that like?” Newt felt like an idiot the second those words came out of his mouth. Even Tendo gave him a look over his shoulder. Hermann had an odd sort of pinched expression on his face. “It’s… damp.” Hermann said eventually, still giving Newt that odd look. “Right. Damp. ‘Cause of the ocean and… stuff. Great talk, Herms.”“Don’t call me that.” Hermann snapped, forcing himself to speed up so he could try to keep pace with Tendo. And with that, the last leg of their trip was spent in silence with varying moods.Tendo finally stopped in front of a solid door, taking out the key to fit it into the keyhole on the left side of the door. Then, in a rather surprising show of strength, the librarian pressed the length of his shoulder and arm against the door and shoved. He walked it open just wide enough for one person to fit through at a time. Tendo was huffing by the time he leaned away from the door.Hermann slipped past the door, breathing in the smell of old books and stale air. The room was lit with some sort of bioluminescent crystal lining the walls and shelves, casting the room in a blue-green glow. As he spun around to take in the room, his eyes went wide. If the library above had been big, then this room was positively massive. The ceiling disappeared into darkness it was so high and the room itself was the size of several ballrooms.And the books. There were more books here that Hermann thought he could ever read in a lifetime. More than he could read in two lifetimes. While Newt went off to search for some book or another, Hermann walked along the stone shelves. It looked as though they had been carved of living stone, still rooted to the floor. The books looked less worn the further down he walked.“Hermann!” Newt called from the other end of the room. His voice bounced off the walls before fading out. Hermann sighed and trudged back the way he came, past the door where Tendo stood guard, and past all the shelves toward older and older tomes.Newt was holding a truly ancient book in his hands, turning the pages with delicate fingers. He looked up when Hermann stopped in front of him. “Come look.” He said, raising the book slightly, encouraging Hermann to step around beside him to look at the page. Reluctant, Hermann moved closer. The page was yellowed and crumbling around the edges, the ink faded and blurred, but not so badly that the image was lost.There were four dragons in a circle around a crude drawing of the world, nose to nose and tail to tail in pairs. The dragon at the top was larger than the other three and painted to look furred, facing west. It was touching noses with a heavily armored dragon with two sets of wings. The dragon opposite the armored one looked almost like Newt’s Otachi, with hooks at the wrist joints and only two legs, and a pair of back-curved crests above the eyes. It was facing south, toward… “That’s the same dragon.” Hermann said, pulling out his drawing to match it to the dragon at the base of the circle. Six legs, a set of frond-like frills about the head, and a finned tail. And black eyes, almost like voids.He looked up again when Newt hissed out a breath. “Okay. Okay. And that’s the only one you dreamed about? You’re sure you’ve never seen Her before?” Hermann snorted and turned back to the drawing. “Only the one. And when, exactly, would I have had the chance to see this before now?” Newt carefully closed the book and slid it back into the shelf, taking care not to accidentally damage it or its fellows when he put it away. “What happened in the dream?” He asked when he stepped back. He gave Hermann a searching look, green eyes intense.“Just the dragon, standing over some water.” Why would Newt suddenly care about his dreams? Well, it wasn’t as if any of his behavior seemed consistent to Hermann before now. Newt just sighed, some of the tension fading from his shoulders. “Right. So, just don’t fall asleep under the open sky at night. It won’t be real sleep and you’ll just exhaust yourself. People have died that way, actually.”That wasn’t reassuring at all. Hermann made a face, but he didn’t say anything. What was one supposed to say to that? / Hermann followed when Newt started walking toward the door. “It’s probably nothing to worry about.” Newt threw over his shoulder when they reached the vault door. “Find what you needed, starman?” Tendo asked after he hauled the door shut again. Newt hadn’t actually explained anything, so Hermann wasn’t sure if he’d found anything. Instead of voicing this, though, he just shrugged.Hermann suspected Newt wasn’t telling him something important. He would just have to find out for himself somehow.Determined, Hermann began to plan as Tendo and Newt walked him back above ground, toward the light of day./
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If spring had been pleasant, then it was only as a pleasant memory, because summer here was horrible in Hermann’s opinion. It was nothing like the humid summers by the ocean, where Hermann could just take a quick jaunt down to the shore with his siblings when it was too hot and sticky to do much else besides lounge in the water. No, here in the mountains the air was dry and the sun was intense, with only the limited shade and a cold bath at the end of the day to offer respite. Every day felt hotter than the last, and Hermann felt more and more sluggish. The heat sapped his energy and made him listless for most of the day when he was left to his own devices./ Of course, it was the middle of summer that Newton thought he should see beyond the library and arranged for escorts to take him out. Occasionally, Newt would come along, too, when he had the time.It was on these trips that Hermann was officially introduced to Air Marshall Pentecost, Captain of the Patrol Hansen, and many of the dragon guards and rangers. Hermann wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the cool reception from some and the smiles from others were certainly better reactions than he thought he’d get. Mr. Hansen acted as if he knew Hermann already, and was kind to him in a gruff sort of way. “Chuck thinks you’re a good sort, and that’s enough for me. He doesn’t make friends easy, but he trusts the ones he has,” Herc told him with a pat to the back. Marshall Pentecost seemed much more stoic, but he wasn’t unkind. He found out later during another session in the library that Pentecost was actually Mako’s adoptive father.Both Sasha and Alexis came to walk with him when they weren’t on patrol. They were eager to show him the paddocks where the dragons could rest. The Kaidanovskys were especially proud to show off their partner dragons, Karloff and Belobog. The two dragons seemed to remember Hermann and nosed at his chest and shoulders when the Kaidanovskys nudged him closer.Hesitantly, Hermann reached out to stroke the fluffy head of Sasha’s dragon, Karloff. “In north lands, his fur would be thick and long, but here is too hot for that, so his fur is short.” Sasha told him. Both dragons were beautiful, with shiny black beaks and iridescent fur. Hermann was happy to stay in the paddocks for a while with the dragons, listening to them murmur amongst themselves in their strange voices. Of course, sometimes Hermann would make his way back to Trespasser. The old beast seemed not to mind him much, and often let Hermann stay as long as he liked. The first few times, Hermann got lost on the way there or the way back, but eventually, he could traverse the plain stone hallways with little trouble.Another effect of wandering around the place was that he saw Newt more frequently. Aside from tagging along or dragging Hermann away from the library, Newt just seemed to be around a lot more. Which was why Tendo ended up kicking them both out of the library. “Neither of you are allowed in here at the same time.” Tendo said, shooing them both out the door. “This is a library, brother, and libraries are supposed to be quiet.” Hermann looked down at his feet, embarrassed at his behavior. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice like that. But when he started arguing with Newton, things just… got a bit out of hand. Well, more like a lot, but Hermann really didn’t want to think too hard on that.It started at the beginning of summer. Newt had seen one of the books Hermann was reading about applied mathematics. Hermann thought Newton tried to be polite at first and ask after what Hermann was interested in. And it went downhill from there, and just got worse every time math, biology, and magic were brought up in the same conversation.Generally, their arguments started small and inevitably blew up until everyone in the general vicinity fled, or in Tendo’s case, kicked them out. / For a moment, both of them stared at the door. Then Newt shrugged and said, “whatever, Hermann. You’re still wrong.” And they went spiraling back into their argument as they retraced their steps through the hallway. Hermann wiped at his forehead for what felt like the millionth time today alone and took a steadying breath before launching back into their argument.“I am not wrong, Newton! Magic is inherently mathematic and functions under a strict set of rules! It’s the furthest you could get from biology, evolutionary or otherwise. That would be like dropping a rock and calling the rock part of your biology, and that is, of course, ridiculous.” Maybe it was his fault for allowing himself to be drawn in, but Hermann found he enjoyed these arguments the more they happened. He never would have been allowed to speak of magic back in the south. Newt drew him out of his musings with a rather unattractive snort. “Right. Because a rock is such a great comparison. Someone would still have to pick the rock up and drop it, which means the would have to be biologically capable of grasping and dropping the rock. Magic is way different. It’s a type of genetic inheritance unique to specific environments that have nothing to do with your stupid numbers.”“I beg your pardon, numbers are not stupid!” They had made it all the way to the courtyard now, the argument spurring them into a faster pace. “And math is so much more than that. It is a complex system of logical explanations and predictive equations and that includes magic. Magic can be tracked with statistical analysis, which also helps measure outliers like unusual magical ability along borderlands.” Hermann squinted in the sun when they both stopped to face each other, bracing his legs and squeezing his cane hard to stabilize himself. The explosive argument wasn’t doing him any favors in regulating his temperature.Newton was gesturing wildly, seemingly unaffected by the sun. “Statistics? No! I can explain magical inheritance with like, the most basic Punnett Square! Even border magic works under genetic probability. Ever heard of codominant alleles? ‘Cause those are a thing!” When Hermann didn’t immediately refute Newton’s argument, he just kept going on with his argument. Hermann reached up to push his hair away from his forehead and frowned. His skin wasn’t damp anymore, just tacky.Hermann was trying to follow along, really. As strongly as he argued his own point, he felt like he was learning from Newton and could strengthen his point the longer they talked. But as nice as an intellectual equal was, he couldn’t enjoy it when he was starting to feel dizzy. There was grey fuzz forming at the edges of his vision. When he focused back on Newton, the other man had stopped talking and was giving him a rather concerned look. “Hermann? Hey, you look really pale. Let’s get into the shade, okay.” Newt took hold of his free hand, which made Hermann aware of how suddenly cold and clammy he felt. He blinked slowly and made a small sound when Newt tried to move him. All at once, his legs felt weak and went limp under him. Newt was shouting something, but Hermann didn’t know what. He was out before he was even finished falling.
For a long time, he drifted in the dark, alone. He tried to open his eyes every now and then, but nothing happened. And then a little pinprick appeared in the distance. And then another appeared. And another. And another. Until thousands of little lights came together, slowly filling in an image.
A cold mist rolled in, brushing against Hermann’s skin like a phantom touch. He shivered. When a looming figure appeared in the distance, Hermann began to move toward it, mindful of the way the mist drifted about him. There was no explanation for why. In the waking world, he was sure he would have been afraid of the gargantuan beast, but he felt strangely hollow here, as if he weren’t real.
He stopped a short distance away, tilting his head back to take in the frilled, dark eyed dragon before him. She cast Her massive eye down to him and lowered Her great head. “Will you look into the pool?” She asked him with her many voices.
Without hesitation, Hermann leaned over and stared into the water. Like last time, the surface was still as a mirror, reflecting the stars. For a moment, Hermann was so caught up by the beauty of the surface, he almost didn’t see the menacing shadow moving below. He watched it for a moment, wondering how it didn’t disturb the surface as it cut through the water. Between one blink and the next, the shadow had wrapped itself about his legs and dragged him into the water. The dragon stared at him, dark eyes unreadable, as he was pulled deeper into the dark water.
The next thing he saw was a semi-familiar ceiling, somewhat out of focus. When he turned his head, he saw a woman with her back turned to him, hurrying to stuff clothes and baubles into a bag. She was saying something, but Hermann couldn’t quite understand.
The woman forced the bag shut and turned to him, and Hermann was struck with how familiar she looked, how compelling her black eyes were, despite the cloud-like quality of everything here. He reached up for her, and she obligingly lifted him up, holding him close as if she would lose him if she didn’t. The woman spoke again, voice soothing despite the awful tremor to it.
She took the bag and went to the window, calling out to someone. It was dark outside, even under the light of the moon. The woman shifted Hermann to one arm and stepped onto the ledge. A pair of large eyes gleamed in the darkness, and Hermann began to realize what was happening. This woman was trying to run away, and she had a dragon in waiting to help her. But then the door slammed open, hard enough for the hinges to splinter. The woman yelped and shrunk away, careful to shield Hermann with her body.
There was a man in the doorway, a sword in his hand. He was shouting at the woman, pointing the sword at her and advancing slowly. Hermann vaguely recognized the sounds of a baby crying close by, but there were no babies in the room. Just the man, woman, and him. The woman hesitated for only a moment before she turned and tried to jump from the window to the dragon waiting below, but she was yanked back by the man. He threw her to the floor, and the sounds of a crying baby became screaming. It was him, Hermann finally realized. He was the one crying and screaming.
The man came over and pulled the woman to her knees, and Hermann finally got a better look at the man’s face. It was still blurred, but Hermann could make out a few details. Distantly, he was horrified.
This was his father. Then… this woman was his mother? He didn’t have much time to dwell on it. His father raised the sword, but never made the downstroke. A slender dragon forced its way through the window, shrieking and hissing its rage and baring rows of sharp, spade shaped teeth. It scrambled in front of Hermann and his mother, huge wings raised to the point of filling the room.
Hermann could barely see what was happening, but he could hear screaming and shouting from everyone in the room. In the melee, his mother was stuck and sent back to the floor. He didn’t see how it happened, but his father got around the dragon and yanked his mother up. She lost her grip on Hermann as she was dragged toward the window, twisting desperately in his father’s grip.
His mother was thrown from the window, her screams drowned out by the dragon’s. Suddenly, Hermann was scooped up in the dragon’s blunt claws. It made a mad dash for the window with Hermann held close.
The sword in his father’s hand glinted in the low light and swung down with unrelenting cruelty and struck the dragon down. Hermann was pulled from the dragon’s grip, screaming as its claws dug into his waist and legs in a last attempt to keep him. His father was uncaring of the claws and ripped Hermann away.
The sword was held aloft again, but before his father could bring the sword down on him, soldiers came barreling into the room, finally drawn in by the commotion. The dragon’s dying shriek blended with the screams of a hurt and terrified baby Hermann, until he couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
Hermann awoke suddenly, screaming in terror. He struggled to sit up, only to be hit with an exhaustion even worse than the aftermath of the first dream. He was startled when the door burst open and a group of people came spilling into the room. He recognized Newt and Alison, but the guards behind them were unfamiliar. Alison was quick to try to calm Hermann, shushing him and pressing a cool cloth to his forehead. Newton stood to the side, hands raised like he wanted to do something, but didn’t know what. When he started dry heaving, Alison pressed a bucket into his arms to catch what little Hermann spat up.Finally, Hermann quieted down to the occasional hitched whimper. He was shaking badly, so much that Alison had to hold the offered cup of water for him so he could drink. He just wanted to close his eyes again and sleep, but he feared the dreams he would have if he did. “Hermann?” Newt’s voice came, hesitant. He looked up to Newton, then glanced around the unfamiliar room before taking stock of himself. The room was larger, and more ornate, with a huge open window. This wasn’t his room. The bed was much larger and more comfortable, too, though it was covered by a canvas tarp. The tarp was damp, and so was Hermann, which was when he realized he’d been stripped down to his underthings.Alison was still patting him down with a cool cloth when he looked back to her. “What’s the last thing you remember, Hermann?” she asked him quietly. It took a few false starts, but Hermann managed to choke out what he could in an uneven voice. “The… I was in the courtyard with… with Newton…” Alison nodded and looked up from what she was doing. “You passed out two days ago, likely from the heat. It’s almost daybreak now.” “Two days…?” It didn’t feel like he’d been asleep for two days. It felt more like he hadn’t slept in weeks. “We couldn’t wake you up.” Newton added in from where he was hovering. Hermann nodded, looking back down at himself. “Could one of you get my bag?” He wanted to see the cameo of his mother, to burn her placid face and black eyes into his mind. One of the guards left to do as he asked.“Alright,” Alison said, standing straight. “You need to take it easy for a while, and remember to drink something. You probably aren’t used to the heat and you haven’t been staying hydrated, so you made yourself heat-sick.” She said as she wrote on a bit of parchment. She handed it off to another one of the guards and sent them off. As the second guard was leaving, the first one came back with Hermann’s bag and handed it off to Newton so Newton could set it down next to Hermann. Hermann dug around in his bag until he found the cameo. He pulled it free and flipped it so he could see his mother’s face, running a shaking finger along the painted curve of her cheek.Newton went to the window and drew the curtains, so the weak light of dawn wasn’t cutting across Hermann’s face. “Are you going to be okay?” Newt asked when he came back to Hermann’s bedside. The remaining guards were filtering out now that they were no longer needed, and Alison was replacing the cloth and bucket by Hermann’s bedside in case he needed them again.“I’m fine.” Hermann lied. “You want anyone to stay with you for a bit, in case you need anything?” Newt shifted, looking uncertainly between Hermann and the door. “If… if it’s not too much trouble…” When Hermann voiced his half-formed request, Newt let out a breath, relieved, and made his way to one of the chairs on the other side of the room.“I’ll be here.” Newton told him when they were both settled again. Hermann shifted so he could rest his mother’s picture against the wall on the bedside stand. Then he closed his eyes, warring with fear and exhaustion for sleep. Newt would wake him before anymore nightmares cropped up, he was sure. So he let himself go back to sleep.
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Through the eyes of the Drakkani all humans were equal, though the humans divided themselves by nation and by status. With these division came unrest. Senna in particular was angered by the violence growing in mortal hearts, for She saw for humans a future of destruction and war if they were left to themselves. She saw all that was, all that is, and all that is yet to come, and feared the many outcomes for the world. Senna, from Her scrying pools under the stars, willed the desire for scholarship into Her Drakka so that humans might become learned and enlightened, so that they would turn away from violence.
But for humans, such great knowledge could not exist in a void. They used Senna’s gift for ill, to create tools of mass destruction. Despairing of the mistreatment of knowledge, Senna sealed Herself away at the bottom of the oceans of Her birth, but not before granting one last gift to Her Drakka. Should they need Her and Her insight, Her Drakka could read the stars and call to Her from the water.
Thus, Drakkani Senna of the South fell into a deep sleep in the mortal world, leaving knowledge and prophecy in Her wake.
—Excerpt from The Original History of the Drakkani, Author Unknown For the second time in half a year, Hermann was confined to bed, though for the heat this time. Honestly, it was harder to stay in bed this time around since nothing really felt bad until he got up and tried to go outside. Alison was very strict about him taking it easy and actually taking care of himself. Hermann got visitors, and often said visitors would bring him books and stay to keep him company for a while. But they all had places to be. Chuck and Mako had their schooling, Sasha and Alexis had patrol, Tendo had to keep an eye on the library, Alison had other patients to see now that Hermann wasn’t in immediate danger, and Newton… well, Newton was busy running kingdom and country.Hermann sighed, running his thumb along the edge of the book cover Mako had brought him earlier in the day. It felt like he wasn’t necessary. He was the only one who wasn’t needed. The illusion that he might have a place and a purpose here was shattered the moment he was bound to the bed. Those dark thoughts were dispelled for a moment when a gentle breeze came in through the window, flipping the gauzy curtains aside to let in the last bit of natural light of the day. The eastern horizon was dark, with only a hint of purple from the sunset on the other side of the sky. He closed his eyes for a moment to let the wind calm him, only to snap his eyes open and jump a little with the door slammed open. People here didn’t know how to open doors quietly, did they? Knocking seemed to be a foreign concept as well.“Newton…” Hermann sighed, sinking deeper into the pillows propped against the headboard. The king waltzed right in, looking a bit worn, but otherwise no less fluttery than usual. Newton had been making… attempts… to be more sociable, with varying results. Half the time it felt like they just ended up in truly explosive arguments, and the other half was a mixed bag of stilted conversation or awkward silence. There was the occasional night where they could be both civil and engaging, but it was somewhat hit or miss.Newt dragged over the armchair from the corner, scooting close to Hermann’s bed and putting on an eager face. “So, not sure if I ever asked, but, how do you like your new room?” Newt circled a finger in the air and leaned forward. Hermann frowned, looking at Newton, and then around the room. “New room?” He wasn’t sure he understood. He thought this was only temporary, until Alison verified he was well enough to go back to the little room he’d been living in for the last half year. “Yeah, new room! It’s yours! You like it, right? We can move you to a different one if you want?” Newt squirmed in his chair, looking somewhere between nervous and pleased with himself. Hermann blinked at him, trying to process the information. “No, no. It’s… this one is fine, really.” Hermann knew he could be rude, but it would be absolutely unthinkable to demand another room. The acceptance had the added effect of putting Newton more at ease. The man flopped back against the chair with a grin.“Good. That’s good.” Newton told him. “Can’t have my future husband staying in an unsuitable room.”And if Hermann hadn’t been taken aback before, then he certainly was now. “Your what.” Had he heard wrong, or did Newton call him ‘future husband,’ as if they were still writing hopeful letters to each other.Newt went back to jittering at the edge of his seat in the blink of an eye. “Um, f-future husband? No? I just kinda figured… Um. The only other people you’re on speaking terms with are married or underage, so. No? I mean, unless you want to leave?” He was looking everywhere but Hermann, hands clenched on the armrests. Hermann was sure that even two months ago, he’d be suffering emotional whiplash, but he was getting used to how Newt bounced from one extreme to another, given the amount of time they were spending together now. “Newton, no. I’m not leaving.” That was enough to at least get Newt’s attention and quiet him long enough to get some form of explanation out.“I don’t expect I’d get a warm welcome back in the south, or any other nation. And despite my official status as a political prisoner—yes, I know about that, Newton, I’m not stupid—I’m much better off here.” Herman said, pushing himself up in bed a little. “But I think it’s a little premature to call me your future husband. After all, you never actually proposed.” Even in their letters, marriage was more of an implicitly agreed upon suggestion for keeping Hermann in Regnodrak legally than anything else.Newton looked shocked for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe Hermann had even hinted at wanting a proposal. His gaze went flitting back around the room, and Hermann was sure he could see a little color in Newt’s face that hadn’t been there before. But Newt broke them out of the silence again when his gaze landed on the open window. “Your window is open. I thought I told you it was a bad idea to sleep under open sky.” Newt jumped up from his chair to get to the window. “The light would come right in, especially at moonrise.” “I might take your advice if I actually knew why I should take it.” Hermann said, sorely tempted to roll his eyes. If he was trying for some kind of mysticism, then Hermann wasn’t all that impressed. Newton seemed to think on this as he put the latch across the window and drew the heavier set of curtains. “Well,” Newton said, keeping his back to Hermann. “You know you have a little bit of metallokinetic magic, which is a subset of constructive magic, right? And you know you can have more than one type of magic?”“Yes, Newton. Do get on with it.” Newt turned on his heel in a huff, marching back toward Hermann, only to stop about halfway there. “I’m getting there, just shut up.” The king hesitated for a moment before he just went back to the chair. He puffed out his cheeks and sighed, patting his thighs with his hands.Newton fixed Hermann with an odd look, before blurting out, “So you may be kind of prophetic.” He held his hands up when it looked like Hermann was going to give some sort of protest. “No, listen. You fall asleep outside and wake up and feel like you haven’t slept at all? That’s a magical toll. It takes energy to use magic, and people only have so much energy. Like I said, people have died before from overtaxing themselves.”“Alright, I can’t refute your point about a toll, and that I occasionally don’t feel well rested, but prophetic?” Hermann had some inkling of where this was going, but he didn’t want to think about that too much. He couldn’t do much with magic while he was awake, so how much more proficient could he be in his sleep? “See, that’s where this gets interesting. Prophecy only comes in the form of dreams, through the entire record we have of that kind of magic.” Newt shrugged. “Not to mention prophecy is a predominantly southern magic, descended straight from the Southern Drakkani Herself. So there you go.”Newt went quiet for a moment, staring hard at Hermann and squinting. “Huh.” He said after a while. “What?” Hermann asked, feeling a bit self-conscious under the scrutiny. “Nothing. It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry about it.”Hermann didn’t believe that for a second, but Newt cut him off by yanking the covers up and throwing them over Hermann’s head. “Okay, well you should try to sleep. ‘Night, Hermann!” And with that, Newt fled the room, leaving Hermann to stew in thoughts of magic and moonlight until he rather unwillingly fell asleep.
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Hermann was overjoyed to finally leave his room and return to normal activity with the onset of fall. It was chillier than he was used to in the south but pulling on one of the furs the Kaidonovskys had given him last winter did the trick to keep him warm. He still shivered and frowned at the oncoming ache in his hips on his way back to the library. When Tendo saw him come through the library door, he immediately jumped up to greet Hermann. “Star man, hey. We missed you in here, brother. When you didn’t come back those first few days, I got a little worried. Glad to see you’re okay.” And with that, Tendo walked with Hermann back to his usual spot and set up the ladder against one of the bookshelves. “You stay as long as you want. Enjoy.” Tendo shot him a grin and a little wave before heading off to do whatever librarians did. He couldn’t help the tiny smile. It felt kind of nice to hear people cared about him. But Hermann shook his head once he realized he’d been standing there for too long. He scaled that ladder and went to running a finger along the top row of books in search of those books he’d found the day he met Chuck and Mako. He pulled down as many at once as he could without losing his balance or dropping any. Hermann made at least three trips back up the ladder to pull down which ever book he thought might help him.Newton kept evading his questions whenever he tried to bring up their conversation about prophecy that summer, so he figured he would try to do his own research. He remembered Newt saying something about a ‘Drakkani,’ and he found the word over and over again in the books, often followed by the word ‘Senna.’ Hermann wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be some kind of modifier or part of a title. He didn’t know what the words meant, and so he wasn’t sure how to interpret a good portion of the information he found. He was even more confused when the word ‘Drakka’ started coming up. Was that some form of diminutive of Drakkani? Inevitably, Newton found him in the library and tried to drag him off. “Come on,” Newt said as he tugged at Hermann’s arm with little care that there were at least six books still strewn over the table. Hermann hoped Tendo wouldn’t be too upset about that. First, Newton took him to a leather worker’s shop to be fitted and measured for a saddle of all things—one that would apparently be a quasi-chair so as not to jar his hips. Hermann felt awkward the whole time as the shop owner moved him to sit various ways while a tape flicked this way and that around him. The owner and Newt spoke back and forth over Hermann as if he weren’t really there. He may not have known much about leather crafting, but he didn’t enjoy being treated as if he wasn’t even there. It was rather an ordeal. “If you’re going to stay here, you should probably learn how to ride.” Newt told him after dropping a hefty bag of coins into the shop owner’s hand. “Learn to ride? But I already know how?” All the Gottlieb children were made to learn, no matter how nervous some of them were around horses. Hermann could clearly remember Bastien screaming as he’d been lifted onto the old training mare’s back. Newton stopped and turned to face Hermann with an odd look. “A dragon. Learn to ride a dragon.” Hermann went a bit pale at that, gripping his cane until his knuckles where white. “Oh.” Was all Hermann said. While he’d gradually gotten used to the dragons around the palace and was even starting to enjoy his time with Trespasser, he felt in no way ready to sit atop one. The idea of being in the air so much closer to the sky had appeal, but to ride a dragon…It seemed for once, Newt picked up on Hermann’s unease instead of blazing ahead with whatever plan he had. “Don’t worry so much. I’m not just going to throw you onto a dragon right away. There’s a lot that goes into it besides just the flying bit.” This included making sure the seat of the saddle was a proper fit, finding a dragon to match Hermann’s experience and temperament, and learning how to treat and care for said dragon. Thus, Hermann’s education began, and he bounced from a plethora of instructors, from the Marshal and Captain of the Patrol, to some of the older students working with dragons in various capacities, to Newt himself. He also got to see a multitude of dragons, and began detecting a sort of pattern to the breeds. While all were unique, there were about four general groups—armored, feathered, skinned, and scaled, which he eventually learned denoted what part of the world they hailed from. It was a small thing to be proud of, but he now knew Trespasser, an armored dragon, had come from the west.“Dragons aren’t like horses,” Mr. Hansen told him one late afternoon. “Horses are smart, but dragons are the most intelligent creature you’ll ever meet. It’s not just about yanking the reigns around, you have to be able to cooperate and communicate.” From some of the advanced students, Hermann heard all kinds of stories about their dragon partners’ personalities and how they had to work to truly be companions, and all about the ridiculous shenanigans along the way.Hermann wondered if very many people here could talk to dragons, and asked Chuck about this later in the library. “No, not actual talking.” Chuck said, scrunching up his nose. “It’s being able to read their body language and building up trust by treating them right. There aren’t a lot of people who can actually speak in the Goddess Tongue.” He paused for a moment, as if deep in thought. “Why do you ask?” Chuck sounded somewhere between suspicious and intrigued. Hermann didn’t answer, but he filed away this new term for later research, or maybe as a new question to pester Newton with.With these new lessons to fill his days, the days flew by, and it felt like no time at all before Newt came bursting into one of his lessons one evening. Marshal Pentecost shot Newt a dark look, but Newt paid no mind, already hooking his arm through Hermann’s to drag him away. “Your saddle’s finally ready! That means we can get you started on a dragon.” Newt led him through the halls toward one of the larger court yards that also functioned as an outdoor arena. The saddle was resting on a stand by one of the walls, polished to a shine. It was a half back chair with grooves at the front corners to slot his legs, with a padded mat connected to the girth and chest harness so the chair wouldn’t rub uncomfortably on the dragon’s back. Newton started talking while Hermann inspected the saddle. “Now, we won’t start flying just yet. You’ll need flight gear, so you don’t freeze or get windburns, and you’ll have to find a dragon that want to fly with you. We’ll start off with just walking laps before anything else.”After looking the saddle over a moment more, Hermann nodded and turned back to face Newton. “So, any dragons you’ve seen that you want to start with? I know you’ve been introduced to a lot of the training dragons and some of the active partner dragons, so you can see what a good relationship looks like.” Newt was bouncing on his toes, eager to know who Hermann would choose. And really it didn’t seem all that difficult of a choice.“Trespasser.” Hermann said. Though the training dragons he’d met recently seemed very nice, he’d already built up some rapport with Trespasser and was rather fond of her. But Newt looked a little thrown by the answer. “Really? She’s pretty old, Hermann, and I don’t know if she’s the best choice for a beginner.” Hermann was decided, though. Trespasser seemed a gentle type and he trusted her. After some deliberation and a few more token attempts to get Hermann to change his mind, Newton relented. “If you’re sure. I’ll get one of the stable hands to bring her up.”He blinked at that. “We’re doing this right now?” It was starting to get dark out and even after what felt like intensive instruction, Hermann wasn’t sure he was actually ready to do this. A knot was twisting in his stomach. “Sure,” Newt said easily, “no time like the present.”And in a few short minutes, a stable hand was leading Trespasser into the yard. Hermann had never seen her outside of her home before, and while he knew she was heavy set, he wasn’t prepared for just how broad and stout she was. Trespasser stood low to the ground and the armor plates along her back and shoulders shifted with every steady step. She stretched out her four wings so that he could see the bisected part of each thick membrane, and an intimidating club swung at the end of her tail as she walked, and she tilted her head this way and that to see around the ax-like crest on her face. Though she was no beauty with her dull, aged plating and crisscrossing scars, she was sure and patient, and Hermann saw in her a kindred spirit—someone who had a lived-in body.She was still as Newt helped Hermann saddle and mount her, handing him the reigns once he was comfortably seated. “Alright, I think you’re all set. Feel okay?” Newt stepped away, running his eyes over dragon and rider to make sure the tack was in order one last time. “I think so, yes.” If Newt heard the tremor in Hermann’s voice, he didn’t say anything about it./ “Alright, we’ll start off slow. See if you can ask her into a walk.” Newt stepped away toward the wall to watch, startling a bit when the Marshal came to stand next to him. He must have followed them up from the interrupted lesson.With a deep breath to steady himself, Hermann looked down the mottled orange-grey expanse of Trespasser’s neck. “Um… would you walk with me, please?” Was that how to do it? When he looked over, both Newt and Pentecost had uncertain expressions on their faces. Well, Newt did at least. The Marshal’s face was disconcertingly blank.But when Trespasser started forward, Hermann forgot all about his audience. He laughed quietly to himself at the feel of her muscles under the saddle and the slow rocking of her gait. Gradually, he began to relax. This wasn’t as bad as he feared it would be, and as he became more comfortable making slow laps around the yard, he let his mind wander a bit. The stars were winking into sight against the darkening sky, and not for the first time Hermann reveled in their light. Trespasser tilted her head to the side, rolling one yellow eye to watch her rider. “Child,” she said, deep and rumbling, but familiar enough that Hermann didn’t draw his gaze away from the sky. “You long for the stars. I can bring you closer to them, for a time.” Dazed and distracted by Trespasser’s voice and the promise of the stars, Hermann didn’t see Newt go rigid or the sudden sharp edge in Pentecost’s expression. “Is that what you wish?”“Yes…” Hermann said dreamily. He was broken out of his daze when the dragon lurched into a lumbering charge. Her broad wings snapped open and beat wildly, stirring up dirt as she took them speeding across the yard. Hermann couldn’t hear the shouts from Newton behind him for the wind and blood rushing through his ears.For such a heavy creature, it took Trespasser no time at all to leave the ground. Hermann couldn’t help the scream that ripped from his throat, clinging to the reigns and the front of the saddle.The palace courtyard was quickly shrinking away and fading into the dark, the starlight only shining against the ridges of the surrounding mountains. Hermann kept his eyes shut through all of this, hunkering down as far as he could in the saddle for fear of falling. He could feel the way they were rising, and he was getting dizzy from the thin air. “Open your eyes, child. See your stars.” He heard Trespasser say when they finally leveled off. Slowly, Hermann did as Trespasser bid and cracked his eyes open, though he was cold and terrified. When he opened them all the way, he was amazed.Around him, the stars glittered like jewels. There were streaks of milky silver swirling along the sky and stars of all sizes and colors standing out against the night, the moon a sliver on the horizon. If only the wind didn’t dry his eyes, Hermann was sure he would never blink.He wished dearly he could stay up here forever now that the shock of take off wore away. This was the second time he’d flown in his life and this time he could enjoy it.It was exhilarating to say the least.Hermann couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he tilted his head back, reveling in this little touch of the heavens. “This is amazing.” Hermann laughed. This was like nothing he’d ever felt before.But something pulled Hermann from his reverie. Someone was calling his name over the rush of wind.That was Newton’s voice. Hermann turned his head to see the silhouette of another dragon behind him with a mass of blue bio-luminescence on the underside. That was where Newt’s voice was coming from. “I think… I think we should land.” He didn’t want to, but this little jaunt through into the sky hadn’t exactly been planned. Trespasser made a sound he took for an acknowledgement and curved into a gentle descent. It only took a moment to land on a generous ledge to wait for Newton.The blue of the other dragon’s belly followed them down until Newton and his dragon landed beside Trespasser. Newton tossed down his dismount ladder and practically slid the whole way down before he rushed over. “Hermann, there’s a rolled pouch on the side of your saddle. That’s your ladder. Unlatch it.” Newt sounded frantic, and Hermann could see the shadows of his hands fluttering about like startled birds.He did what Newt told him and clambered unsteady from the adrenaline rush but deliriously happy all the same. He felt Newt’s hands on his shoulders when he came down, nearly burning compared to his wind chilled body.“Are you okay? Not hurt?” Newt used one of his hands to pat along Hermann’s arm and back up to his face. “No.” Hermann said. His voice sounded rough to his own ears. “Not hurt. That was the most wonderful thing I think I’ve ever done.” And with that, Hermann broke into a fit of giggles. He flew all by himself and he had loved it. “I’d rather like to do that again.”The too hot hand was still resting against his face and he could practically feel Newton’s incredulity even though he couldn’t see it. “Right. Right. Okay. Well, we uh, y’know, have to get back to the palace, so. Yeah.” They stood there for a moment longer, and Hermann could sense the change in the atmosphere when Newt’s thumb rubbed against his cheekbone. Newt’s shoe scuffed the stone when he slid a little closer. Hermann’s heart jumped for another reason now. Hermann bent his head just a little as Newt leaned forward. “Your Majesty!” Stacker Pentecost’s voice made them both jump apart, and Hermann ended up falling back against Trespasser’s side. The Marshal swept in on his own dragon and dismounted. Otachi hissed where she was shifting behind Newt, obviously unhappy at being crowded on the ledge. Once the Marshal was sure both king and prince were unharmed, he urged them both back to their mounts to return to the palace with all possible haste. Hermann spent most of the flight back with his eyes on the stars.
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The Drakkani and the world. (Top, Nirna; Left, Wula; Bottom, Senna; Right, Eoma)