Black Wings

Kayse turned around to face Orion, her heart pounding in her chest.
“That,” she searched for the right words, any words that would sufficiently describe how she felt about what she had just experienced, “I don’t know how to even describe it. It was incredible.”
“They are,” Orion said. “Who chose you?”
“You couldn’t hear them?” Kayse asked. “It was Odran.”
“No,” Wilhelmina said. “Generally, in a ceremony, your patron will only speak to you. Odran is a very powerful patron. You will come to feel his influence with time.”
Brigid and Ember and two other dragonesses resumed their horse forms and they collected their tack from the edge of the woods. Kayse, feeling exhilarated by the experience goded Orion into a race back to the homestead. The four of them sat around the table and talked for hours. Wilhelmina explained how Charlie was let in on the big family secret when he told Kalvin that he would not be involved in shady dealings and threatened to drop him as a client despite the fact that, for the time, Kalvin was paying him an obscene amount of money. Kalvin and Gerald were impressed with Charlie’s character and he was a good lawyer. So, they introduced him to the dragons, presented him to the drakes and made him an unofficial part of the family. Eventually, Charlie and Wilhelmina dismissed themselves, citing the late hour and once again, Kayse found herself sitting alone with Orion.
“There so… amazing,” Kayse said, thinking back to the drakes.
“It’s like, when they’re talking to you, you can feel how ancient and powerful they really are,” Orion said in agreement. “Every once in a while, I can feel Shaemus’s influence and it’s like,” he sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if the right words would be written there. “It’s like I can feel him with me, in my chest. Like he’s occupying my body with me and influencing what I do or what’s happening around me. But, also, experiencing it.”
“Like, when?” Kayse asked.
“Well,” Orion said, rubbing the back of his neck. “The one time that stands out the most to me… I’m not too proud of this. I was just barely eighteen, went to a party I had no business being at. Got drunk. Got a little friendly with some other guy’s girl. Something hit me in the middle of it all. I could feel Shaemus. He told me I had to leave, now. I got in my truck and was peeling out of the drive when I heard a gunshot. I didn’t find out until later that the girl had been sleeping around on the dude and when he found out and wanted names, she pointed me out to placate him. I got a tailgate full of buckshot. He followed me down the highway trying to run me off the road. Roads were covered in black ice. The whole time I knew Shaemus was there. I was still plastered though. I swerved way too hard to miss an animal in the road that may or may not have actually been there. My ass end clipped his front end and he spun like a top. I went off down a backroad, was barely down it when I saw red and blues running down the high way. Blew a tire right in front of some little old lady’s house. She let me crash for the night and drove me in to get a new tire and everyone in town was going on about a disturbance on the highway. Turns out the guy had a warrant for violating parole and was found in his truck in the ditch, drunk behind the wheel with a loaded sawed-off in the passenger seat. Apparently he put his head through the driver's side window and couldn’t even remember how he wound up in the ditch.”
“Wilhelmina said he gave you luck, that’s not what I imagined,” Kayse said.
“Oh, I have that kind of luck too,” Orion admitted. “Raffles, slot machines, poker, as long as I don’t get cocky about it. Shaemus has proven he’s got no problem knocking me down a peg or two. Took a couple nights in a jail cell to teach me that lesson.”
“You’re not as innocent as Wilhelmina would have me believe,” Kayse chuckled.
“Oh? Really?” A twinkle danced in Orion’s eyes. “She tried to paint me as innocent?”
“She thinks I’m going to eat you alive,” Kayse said.
“One could only hope,” Orion grinned.
“I’m still confused why you presented me to the drakes, and not Wilhelmina. I do appreciate the compliments though.”
“Me too,” Orion admitted. “As far as I know, Wilhelmina is the only person who ever presents a person to the drakes. She presented Mr. Hughes, my Abuelo, Charlie and me.”
“Do you think it’s because we… you know?”
“I think the drakes are a little less superficial than that,” Orion said.
“I didn’t think it was superficial,” Kayse shrugged.
“No, that wasn’t, that was, I mean, it was spontaneous, but, it was definitely not a one time- at least I was hoping it wasn’t a one time, you know…”
Kayse couldn’t suppress a giggle - a surprisingly girly giggle, “you are innocent. Relax. I was joking with you.”
Orion’s posture relaxed a little. “You’re a smartass.”
“Why don’t we just ask?” Kayse suggested. “I mean, we know where they are, what they are and that they can communicate with us.”
“I-” Orion froze, his brow furrowed in thought. “I’ve never actually really thought about approaching them just to talk. They’re just so -” he gestured with his hands. “I mean, another word for drakes is ‘dragon king’, ya’ know.”
“So, you’ve never sat and talked with Sheamus,” Kayse said. “But, he’s been in your head.”
“I-” Orion shrugged.
“Is there any spoken rule against it?” Kayse asked.
“No.”
“I think I’m going to try it,” Kayse said. “I want to spend some time with them anyways.”
Orion shook his head and sighed. “You’re ballsy.”
Kayse smiled and shrugged before looking at the clock on the stove. “It’s late,” she observed. “You, uh, need to get going home?”
“Nothing to do there until morning,” Orion shrugged.
Kayse smiled and stood up, taking his hand and leading him up stairs.

The next morning, Kayse was awakened by the sound of the shower down the hall. She stirred lazily towards the sound. A few moments later, Orion appeared in the door, a towel wrapped around his waist. He silently approached the bed and leaned over to plant a kiss on her.
“Two nights in a row,” he smiled. “Should I just move in?”
“Better than sleeping in an RV,” Kayse teased. “Maybe that’s what this is all about. You just want a place with a shower and a full kitchen.”
“I have a place,” Orion said. “I just don’t like being in there.”
He started picking up his clothes. Kayse propped herself up on one elbow, taking in the scenery as his towel dropped.
“You really haven’t started moving into this place, have you?” Orion observed. “Or, is uh, pre-teen horse girl just your style.”
Kayse looked around the room and laughed. “Uncle Kal put this room together for me when I was a kid. I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic, so I left it as is.”
“The rest of the house too though,” Orion said. “You haven’t changed anything. I keep half expecting to walk in and see Mr. Hughes sitting on the couch with some old book and a black and white show on the TV.”
“I know,” Kayse said. “It’s like living with a ghost. Maybe I should update a few things.”
Orion pulled his shirt on and turned around. “Why don’t we make a day of it?”
“Decorating?” Kayse asked.
“You can go shopping for stuff for the house,” Orion said. “We go out to lunch. Maybe go to a bar.”
“Oh,” Kayse sat up. “You know, people generally call that a date.”
“Sunday,” Orion said. “You and me.”
“Ok,” Kayse agreed. “But, we’re taking my truck, I don’t wanna be seen in public in that death metal monstrosity you drive.”
“That’s low,” Orion feigned offense. “I gotta go take care of the ranch. Get up and get your chores done, girly.”
He kissed her again, pausing for a moment face to face with her. His brown eyes seemed to be soaking in every aspect of her face, like he was in absolute awe of her. Kayse’s heart beat a little harder for a moment.
“You know, you’re beautiful,” he said.
Warmth filled Kayse’s cheeks as she looked down. Orion chuckled and lifted her chin, planting a final peck on her lips.
“I’ll see you later,” he said.
As he walked out, Kayse sighed heavily. She caught herself in the vanity mirror and had to laugh.
“Dragon’s are real and your acting like a love drunk school-girl,” she sighed.

The day was much the same as any other. Running water. Oats to the pregnant mares. Feed to the horses lodged in the barn. She kept stopping to look to the north. It wasn’t lost on her that she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Wilhelmina yet today. Perhaps she had something else going on and trusted that Kayse had the ranch well in hand. And, it seemed that she did indeed. Kayse finished her chores right around lunch time. She fixed herself lunch and sat on the porch, munching lazily and looking at the hills.
“Screw it,” she said out loud.
She went back inside, scribbling a quick note on the notepad on the fridge explaining where she went in case anyone came looking. Soon, she was in her truck rolling across the fields. She slowed down when a group of clydesdales ran up along side the truck. The horse in the lead seemed to look into the window, saw who she was and ran off. As she rolled up to the tree line, Kayse noticed a monster of a horse was already standing at the edge of the woods with Ember at his side. Kayse stepped out of the truck and walked forward slowly. She could feel it, like Orion had described. It was as if there was a second presence inside her body.
“Odran,” she said.
She didn’t hear anything but, there was a sensation in her that felt like a resounding “yes”.
“Wow,” Kayse rubbed her hands together. “I, uh, I want to understand this. I want to understand from your side.”
“Come with me,” Odran’s voice resounded in her head.
Kayse followed, walking along side him and Ember. As the fields faded out of sight behind trees, Odran stopped, his form shifted and grew back into his dragon self. Ember continued walked, shifting as she moved. Kayse was still in awe of the size of him. He was nearly as big as the farm house.
“Is this ok?” Kayse asked. “Can I just, pop in on you guys?”
A series of images began playing through her mind like a movie:
A cart pulled by two big black oxen rolled down a road under the light of a full moon, children and baby dragons huddled together in the back. Big black cows and horses ambled along beside it, keeping watchful eyes on the woods that surrounded them. Some bearing riders, many of whom appeared injured.
The scene changed.
Dragons gathered together in a blizzard, their wings open against rock faces. Children, adults, baby dragons huddled around small campfires under them.
A man desperately bandaged and tried to comfort an injured dragon behind a hill as cannon fire rang out.
A woman sat with a dragoness, playing with baby dragons, helping to lift them off the ground as they flapped their wings with all their might and holding out branches, offering words of encouragement and celebrating when the little dragons lit the branches on fire.
Kayse smiled with delight. “I get it,” she said. “Dragons and keepers have always been close. The last couple generations must have lost that somehow.”
Odran seemed to smile at her. He gestured with his head and led Kayse back towards the middle of the woods. In the day light, the nesting mounds were easier to see. The dragonesses where busy placing logs on the mounds and digging out the dirt underneath. Kayse noticed that there were holes on either side of the mounds and dens dug under them.
“The trees are burnt, the nest is underneath.”
“Baby dragons have to be kept that warm?”
“Hotter than a cooking fire to hatch an egg, a little cooler to keep a hatchling.”
Kayse noticed Ember working on a nest.
“She favors me.”
Kayse looked up at Odran. “So, you and her are, what, mated?”
“Most years. Some years we fight. She’ll mate with Kellen those years.”
“Who knew dragons had marital problems too,” Kayse shrugged.
There was a sensation in her like Odran was laughing.
She wandered around the nests, observing. The smaller dragons brought logs and rocks while the dragonesses worked building nests.
“This is incredible,” Kayse looked at Odran.
They walked through the nesting grounds watching the progress. As they reached the other side, Kayse sat down on a boulder. Odran laid down next to her, crossing his front legs as he supervised the clan working diligently.
“I had a question,” she looked at Odran.
Odran’s blue eyes shifted back to her.
“Why was Orion the one to present me last night?” Kayse said. “From what I understand, it’s traditional for Wilhelmina to do it.”
“Wilhelmina does it by default. Until now, she has had the strongest spiritual connection with both Kellen and with every keeper.”
“It’s about…” Kayse thought for a long moment before the implication settled on her, “a spiritual connection.”
“Two clans were brought together by two keeper bloodlines. Not unlike two countries brought together. We bless the keepers’ bloodlines according to their service to us. Though we may not always be able to predict what that looks like.”
Kayse felt a strange tug in her chest as she thought about Orion. In her mind, the implication Odran made would usually have made her very uneasy. Yet, somehow, she could feel that it was all true and, while it was a wildly over romanticized notion in her mind, she felt comforted by the notion.
“He’s going to need you.” Odran’s great head pivoted towards slightly and his gaze lowered solemnly. “Keepers give so much in their short lives. Some times, I think, too much.”
Kayse thought about asking what exactly he meant, but thought better of it. She spent a while longer sitting with Odran, watching the dragons work and asking questions.

“How was your visit?” Wilhelmina greeted Kayse from the kitchen table.
“Great,” Kayse answered. “I sat and talked with Odran. He’s incredible.”
“Learn anything useful?” Wilhelmina asked.
“A little about your and the dragons’ history,” Kayse shrugged. “You guys have really been through a lot. He showed me. It hadn’t really sunk in until now that you guys go back litteral centuries.”
“I can forget how hard that is for humans to grasp,” Wilhelmina sighed.
“Wilhelmina,” Kayse asked carefully, “why didn’t you ever find an elvish companion to share all these years with?”
“When all of this started, I was despised by most other elves for marrying and having children with a human,” Wilhelmina explained. “And, I don’t think I could have found another person to build a life with. Keone was my soulmate. I’ve had some fun over the years, but, I couldn’t bring myself to find anything serious.”
Kayse nodded in understanding and went to the fridge.
“It was your uncle's habit to sell a good handful of horses during a breeding year to pay for some cattle,” Wilhelmina changed the subject. “We have interested parties for the broke four and five year olds, there's a good handful of three year olds Orion can catalog at the auction. This is all up to you now though. Auction houses put a bad taste in some people's mouth, and there's no guarantee you'll get the price you want. But, private buyers are harder to come by.”
Kayse grabbed a can of soda and leaned against the counter. “That seems like good business to me. We aren't selling all the three year olds are we?”
“No, Orion will choose the ones he thinks have the most potential and continue training them.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Kayse said. What should I be doing?”
“There's a ledger of buyers in the desk,” Wilhelmina explained standing up. She led the way to the livingroom. “We modernized a few years back. We email a list of our available horses and a description of their temperament, training, bloodlines, all that good stuff.” she opened the desk and took out a composition notebook and dusty laptop. “Kal wasn't exactly a friend of technology. But, this was a lot more efficient than cold calling past buyers or posting in the newspaper. Like I said, these horses have a reputation.”
“What about photos?” Kayse asked.
“Can you do that?” Wilhelmina asked.
“On a newer laptop,” Kayse tapped the thick, black and gray monstrosity on the desk. “And a camera, yeah. It's not hard. I could also print a cotalog if that would help at all.”
“Could post some up at the post office and the bars,” Wilhelmina nodded in approval of the idea. “Alright then, it's your baby. Get with Orion and get it sorted out. If you can keep your hands off each other long enough to accomplish something.” She gave a playful nudge.
“I'll try to keep him at bay bay,” Kayse joked. “We're going into Cody this weekend. I'll get everything I need.”

The rest of the week seemed like a normal week on the ranch. Kayse could almost have forgotten that her whole world had shifted yet again as she went about her chores, compiling a list of horses for sale and writing up a draft for the mass email. Wilhelmina came over less and less frequently, citing that Kayse was a quick learner and seemed to have things well in hand. Orion kept himself busy sorting through the quarter horses and “touching up” on their training.
Kayse decided to dedicate some of her free time to settle into the old farm house. There were three bedrooms upstairs, the smallest of which was hers. The designated guest bedroom was nearly the same size as the master bedroom. Kayse decided to lay claim to it. The queen sized bed looked nearly brand new. Oak furniture sat empty against the walls. Once the floral bedding and curtains were washed, old boxes of clothes and bedding were moved out, the hardwood floors were mopped and everything was dusted, it was really a comfortable, homey room.
Kayse was moving her clothes to the closet and big chest of drawers when she noticed a symbol impressed on one of the carved corner posts of the dresser. She gently touched the carving, an olive branch. Excitedly, she ran back to Kalvin's room, finding a matching key chain in the hidden drawer. As she pressed the key into the carving, the post swung open, revealing it was hollow. Inside, tucked into vertical shelves were several leather bound ledgers.
Kayse selected one and traced the elegant gold embossed lettering on the title, “Blood Horns and the Bethold Bloodline”. She opened the cover to find a weathered painting of a great, red dragon with forward curved horns. It was thicker in the face and had a stockier neck than the black wings, all around bulkier and fiercer looking. She thumbed through the pages. All the information seemed to be scattered. Listing names, a count of dragonesses and drakes and a last known location or means of contact. She flipped to the last page to see that the last entry was dated back to the seventies. There was a phone number listed and instructions to ask for a “Sir Ingar” and leave a call back number and time frame. In the next journal, “The Green Beards and the Lochlan Clan” she found a drawing of a long, slender dragon with antler-like horns.
“Ah, the ally ledgers,” Wilhelmina said from the doorway. “Not a terrible idea to familiarize yourself with those.”
“These are all the different kinds of dragons?” Kayse asked.
“Oh, heavens no,” Wilhelmina crossed the room and sat on the foot of the bed. “There are, or at least were, so many more. Here,” she pulled a tattered looking book out, “this was my personal catalog from when I was a young girl.”
Kayse flipped through the pages. There were detailed drawings of dragons of all colors and shapes.
“There’s so many,” Kayse said in disbelief. She looked up at Wilhelmina. “Can you tell me about them?”
Wilhelmina’s blue eyes shone a little as she took the book and looked over it. “Oh, I could tell you so much. How about over some coffee?”
The two retreated downstairs where Kayse poured a couple cups and sat eagerly at the table. Wilhelmina began to regail her with the details of the different kinds of dragons. The metallic dragons who were so large, they could coil themselves around a small village and would do so, using dragon magic to conceal themselves into the landscape to protect small towns from invading forces. The green dragons, of which there were many kinds, were often regarded as wise, respected spiritual counselors. They’d often be sought out as mediators in human conflicts. The red dragons were as fierce as they looked. Wise enough not to get embroiled in human wars, they fought for sport among themselves in desolate parts of the wilderness. Many humans would travel great distances to witness the clashing of the titanic beasts and to take advantage of wildlife fleeing their destruction right into good trapping and hunting grounds. Kayse felt like a small child, sitting across from Wilhelmina, eyes fixed on the pages of the book as she told story after story. As the afternoon wore on, Orion joined them for dinner and he too was enthralled with Wilhelmina’s stories.
“You know,” Orion said around a mouthful of omelet, “I knew this book existed, but I guess I assumed it was some dry old catalog of a few kinds of dragons.”
“I began this book when I was still a young girl,” Wilhelmina said. “I grew up around of these dragons. You wouldn’t believe the world I lived in. They were part of our community. The dragonesses watched over the children like grandmothers and aunties.”
“How did things get to the point where they had to hide?” Kayse asked.
“The same way a lot of terrible things start,” Wilhelmina sighed. “Dragons got a reputation for ‘hoarding’ valuable metals and gems. The truth of the matter is, dragons are pack rats, they like shiny and odd things. They didn't care that it was valuable. But, humans did and they'd go to steal what they thought they could. When you're a tiny human knowingly trespassing in a dragon's home, pretty much anything the beast does seems threatening. A few dragons were killed and news spread. Dragons went on the defensive because they didn't understand that the humans were coming for their stuff, not for the dragons themselves. Humans reacted by treating the dragons as fierce, greedy monsters. The hunts intensified until eggs and hatchlings started getting caught in the crossfire. It escalated to dragon hunts for gold and glory. And, during the crusades, dragons were painted as servants of Satan himself. Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me.” She shook her head. “The hunters eventually discovered there's something valuable about the dragons’ hearts if they could be extracted quickly enough. I still don't understand it. It's sacrilege to the dragons to tamper with the bodies of the dead. If left alone, their fire will completely consume them and leave nothing but ash. If a dragon knows their time is near, they'll go to a place where their fire will do no harm, a beach, mountain, glacier… and they'll awate death there. It's considered a final act of peace to them, to die out of sight of others so as not to cause anyone greif to witness their passing and away from any environment that would be detrimentally affected by fire, so as to not leave destruction in their wake.”
“If their fire is powerful enough to completely incinerate their bodies,” Kayse mused, “ maybe the hunters found a use for it.”
“May be so,” Wilhelmina said. “In truth, I think more dragon hunters have been lost to attempts to harvest the hearts before they burn up than have been lost in any battle.”
“Why would they keep trying to do it then?” Orion asked.
Wilhelmina shrugged and sighed.
“Greed,” Kayse answered grimly.
The three sat in silence for a long moment. Wilhelmina pulled the book back over to her, flipping through the pages for a few minutes before closing it and passing it back to Kayse.
“I best be going,” she said. “It's getting dark and I've got chores to do yet.” She took her plate over to the sink. “You two are going in to Cody tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Kayse answered. “I'm getting a camera and a laptop for the email and catalog.”
“There's a butcher there,” Wilhemina said, “I'll get you the address. There are three steers in the pens in my yard. Take them in the trailer and drop it in his parking lot, he has chest freezers full of goodies for the dragonesses. They're going to need the extra food and bones soon. He'll pack them in dry ice.”
“You traded three live steers for meat scraps?” Kayse asked. “Why not feed the steers themselves to the dragonesses?”
“The butcher needs usable meat,” Wilhelmina said. “Bones are packed with nutrients the dragonesses need to produce healthy eggs. The organ meat, they’ll store and save for the hatchlings.”
“You have really figured out everything,” Kayse said, impressed.
“Been at this a long time,” Wilhelmina said on her way out the door. “You two have fun tomorrow.”