Koblet

KOBLET

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. 1,200 hundred years ago dragons crossed the Divide that encircles Crater Valley from all sides. The Divide cuts it off from anything in the Beyond. That is the first time they arrived, but it would be a while before humans would try to communicate with them.

One tribe, the Rolig, had reigned over the southern part of Crater Valley for over 800 years. They were the first ones to attempt a relationship with the dragons. Their kinship was almost instant, and it only grew stronger throughout the years. It reached the point where the dragons decided to bring the Rolig people into areas that were sanctimonious to them. Places that are dense in magic and natural energy.

It was in one of these places where both sides communed to create the first cited Bonding Ceremony. It was between a somber leader of the dragons, Serios and an easygoing warrior of the Rolig named Letthet.

The Bonding connects dragon and human in an Aura Link. Serios and Letthet were an unbreakable pair and have been recorded to have the most powerful Aura Link ever created. These Bonding Ceremonies have become a tradition and are now held around a Festival for the tribe of the person and the dragon’s clan to celebrate together.

…

Cal sat high on her father’s shoulders over the colorful waves of bobbing heads. Her father was a tall man and broad shouldered. She had a good seat to view the festivities. She watched as vibrant, creative kites trailed after laughing children. There were different animals and shapes flying in every direction. The most elaborate of course were dragons.

She was glad she had her tall father to walk around with. Cal did not get her father’s height. In fact, she was the smallest 9-year-old in the village. A lot of the other kids seemed to always have jokes about it. Among other things.

In the middle of the festival was Mystiker Cave. The second largest Ceremony cave in Crater Valley. The largest being in the eastern region. Cal was obsessed with anything that involved dragons. Their history, their magic, the different types, Draconic language, and most importantly the Bonding Ceremony.

The Bonding Ceremony was the pinnacle of what it meant to be the closest a person could be with a dragon. They were connected together through ancient magic and the Bond would allow humans to feel what dragons felt and see what they could see. Humans could even gain certain magical qualities depending on their dragon’s attributes and the intensity of their bond. The closer a human was to their dragon the closer they were to the magic. Most importantly of all though. It meant they were best friends with a dragon.

This was why Cal couldn’t sleep last night. She rolled and twitched like a Chipper monkey. Until she gave up and read history on the Ceremonies from past by her Moonfly lantern.

The Bonding Ceremony was the whole point of her excitement. It was at the center of her daydreaming. She wanted to be Koblet. To be partnered for life with a dragon.

Of course, she and everyone knew that only men were allowed to be Koblet. Women weren’t even allowed in the Cave. They couldn’t even watch. What kind of unjustified, total pile of dragon sh-.

“Cal, hon, I’m about to go bald,” her father said.

He reached up and unclenched her fists from his thick, soft hair.

“Sorry Dad.” She grimaced a smile.

“You know, I can always tell when you’re saying bad things in your head.”

He stretched his massive arms up and flipped her over to face him upside down. Cal didn’t like wearing dresses, so it made goofing off like this easy for them. He bore his eyes into hers.

“Young lady. What kind of uncouth things are being shouted in that hard head of yours?” He boomed out, “Maybe I can shake them out of you. Are there such vicious words held in such a tiny frame?”

She laughed out the words with each shake, “Dragon shit. Dragon shit.”

“Moris and Cal Hagen.” The words came out in a tight whip.

They froze with horror stricken wide eyes and turned to meet the icy stare of Cal’s mother.

“Lei, my honey hive..”

“Do. Not. Honey hive me.”

Cal’s mother had the ability to make a 6’4 pure muscle of a man wilt down like a Pulse flower in a parched desert. Cal felt sympathy for the big man. Her mom was not easy to love. Not to Cal anyways. That never showed with her father though. He loved both of them and portrayed it every day. He was unfiltered affection. Cal always had a smile in her whole body whenever he was around and a tension in her stomach when her mom was.

“How will she ever become more ladylike with you letting her act that way?”

“She’s only nine. She has the rest of her adult life to be bullied into thinking a dress is comfortable.”

He placed Cal on the ground and gave her a wink.

“She will not be taken seriously in this village with the men and women. How will she ever find a husband when she herself acts like one,” snapped her mom.

Cal winced and hung her face in shadow away from her mother. She felt the mixed heat of embarrassment and anger burst from her face to burn down to shaking hands. Her father frowned deeply at that, but didn’t look at Cal. She knew he didn’t like thinking about her dating much less marrying.

Her parents’ conversation became blurred. She was too hot with anger to listen to her mother complain. She watched her mom turn around and throw her hands up ranting in her native language, which Cal refused to speak with her. It was Cal’s way of showing her mom that she wasn’t going to be like her. Even though she knew more of it than she let on. Cal actually had a knack for languages and read some of the books her mom had brought when she came from the East. Before Cal was born. When her mom was happy.

Cal’s father tried to rein in his wife’s fury. Cal took this chance of distraction to turn on her heel and run toward Mystiker Cave. She got away from them without being noticed and slowed to a walk when she realized she wasn’t being chased. She saw the fountain up ahead and made her way towards it. The fountain sat at the entrance to the Cave and had a statue of Letthet and Serios standing proud together in the middle. The statue was created from white luminescent marble and glowed in the moonlight. Cal and her father had come out to see it at night on her 7th birth year during a full moon.

It was one of her happiest memories. Her mom hadn’t been there. Cal strolled up to the edge to look down into the sparkling, clear water. Her eyes focused and she saw her mom’s face. Her face. She felt another surge of anger, but then she looked at her auburn hair and her green eyes. Her father. She let out a heavy sigh.

There was a commotion to the right. Cal looked up to see some festival performers starting a show. They were making a theatric effort to gather people and gravitate the focus to their performing circle. They made out well. Most of the surrounding crowd were looking their way in anticipation of the act. Cal was curious for what they planned on doing, but she turned her head in the direction of Mystiker.

The amount of people around her gave her plenty of cover from being seen by her parents. She started to look back over at the performers when she jerked her head to a stop. She had plenty of cover from most eyes. She stared at the entrance to the cave.

It seemed to call to her. To whisper her name. She wanted nothing more than to see that cave and see the Bonding Ceremony. It was a stupid rule that a girl couldn’t enter the cave. She was done with these empty rules and choices being taken from her or shoved at her. She forced her legs forward. The crowd was growing, expanding toward the cave entrance. There were two guards there. Cal froze up when she was a few feet away. A performer erupted from the crowd and got in one of the guard’s faces.

He was making jabs at the man’s erect demeanor. He even went as far as to get close enough to make a flower appear from the man’s ear. The other guard came up next to him and shoved the performer back. The last thing that Cal saw as she slipped into the cave was the performer make a mocking bow to the guards. She could’ve sworn he saw her when his face swept up, but no one followed.

She was in the cave, and she moved quickly do get farther in. She heard muffled voices tumble of the walls and she followed them down the main tunnel. The voices grew louder. When she saw an abundance of warm light flickering at the end, she looked around to see if there was any way in there without being seen herself. She saw a small tunnel that had been burrowed off to the left. She bent down to peer into it. Some of the light was spilling over close to her and she could partially see that it curved toward the entrance. She took a chance. She knelt down and crawled in. She followed the curving tunnel up and up as it kept slightly right along the wall.

The tunnel opened up into a rounded-out spot. The floor had been rooted up in the middle to form a rough circle and the room forked into multiple different directions. She took the one that veered off right and came out on a ledge with a wall that was split in places.

She tiptoed to a decent size crack in the wall and peered out onto an enormous room. There were vintage Sunfly lanterns that circled the length of the area. Elegant wall scrolls that fell from the ceiling to the floor with images of past Koblets and the dragons’ faces that chose them rising behind their partners. There were men there in ceremonial robes.

There was one kneeling in the middle while the others stood on either side of him in two rows. Cal recognized the priests on one side. The other row were Koblets.

Towering over all of them wings tucked in, nostrils flaring, and large eyes gleaming were the dragons. They were magnificent. The dragons rarely strolled about the village. They were typically with their own clans living usually high up in mountains. Choosing to be closer to nature than live among the human’s tribe that they bond with.

There were different types, sizes, and colors. Three of the dragons were standing behind the men. Two of them were Western dragons, which have four legs and the other dragon was a Wyvern which has two legs. One of the Western dragons had burgundy steel scales and was missing one of its eyes. Cal realized this was Bellarona. She was one of the oldest dragons alive and she had gone through many Bondings. Her current Koblet was Reiger. A humble, golem of a man in his late forties who was best friends with Cal’s father. Cal saw him standing astute at the front of the row closest to a stone platform that had stairs leading up to it.

Crested on the platform was the fourth dragon in the room. Cal figured it had to be the dragon that was getting Bonded. It was a Wyvern and it had a mischievous glint to its luminous yellow slit eyes. It was if it was daring the room to mock it. The Wyvern had pitch black scales that seemed to eat the light and purple on the under part of its wings.

It was formidable. She was loving every second of it. There was a scuffling noise on the other side of the ledge where Cal was. She turned her head and locked eyes with big, wild red ones that shined in the dimness. Her breath caught in her chest, and she felt a rising fear choking her throat. It was a Cockatrice.

All she could think was that this was wrong and can’t happen. Cockatrices are not in this area anymore. That they were ran out by the other dragons because they are ravenous eaters of dragon eggs. Even going so far as to be cannibals sometimes. She was shaking her head while the Cockatrice bent its head low and crept towards her. As it came closer, she noticed blood dripping from its jaw along with something else. Venom. Cockatrices were known for their venom.

The juices were flowing thick and forming into a green and red mixture. The Cockatrice was fairly small. She darted a look back at the entrance where she came from. She might be able to reach it before it reaches her. Even if it is somewhat small it would be difficult for him to get in after her. It was her only choice regardless. She looked back at the Cockatrice and started screaming inwardly to move.

She clenched her teeth and ripped her face away. Cal bolted for the tunnel. A tearing shriek tore out from behind. Her whole body went cold as she flung herself into the tunnel. It was the Banshee call that Cockatrices let out in an attempt to paralyze their prey with fear. Cal was freezing all over. She couldn’t feel any of her shivering body as she jammed her fingers and knees into the tunnel and drug herself forward. She felt the thrashing behind her as the Cockatrice tried to rip the tunnel apart to get her.

She had a vague thought that there were voices shouting somewhere. She moved as fast as she could with fear gripping her frozen heart. Cal knew the Cockatrice was in the tunnel. She didn’t want to look back. She fell out in the small room from before. Her body was jerking out of her control.

She stumbled toward a tunnel and fell in. The Banshee scream pierced the air again. She was spasming so hard it made it difficult to move. Cal kept at going forward though and came out on another room. She hit something hard and pulled her hand back to see that it was ripped up and bleeding.

Cal saw the gleam of something dark and she thought in a numb way of blood. She then saw an eye and her heart leapt up so badly it hurt. This shook her part way out of her shock. She noticed the eye wasn't moving. Neither was any part of this creature.

It was a Wyrm. It's reverse, razor scales must've tore her hand. That’s what must have made these tunnels too. Cal saw a smear of blood leading out down a tunnel. It probably slithered here to die. She began to move forward when she caught a shine of white out of the corner of her eye. She edged around the front of the Wyrm’s mouth still staring at it in case it decided to come back to life. There laying with a dented, cracked shell was a dragon egg. Cal let out a gasp and reached out. She cradled the dragon egg to her chest. She felt the tunnel vibrating still from the Cockatrice’s thrashing.

Her head felt clearer. She saw a tunnel that was curving left out of the room. It was in the direction that she came from when she first entered the cave. She hoped that it would lead out toward the original. She wriggled forward with one arm. The other holding the egg. There was light flickering up ahead and Cal gave desperate breaths pushing herself toward it. She heard another Banshee scream right behind her. Something jarred her boot and gripped it for a moment. She became frantic and let out a scream.

“Cal!” roared a voice. Her dad’s voice.

“Dad!” Cal cried out for him.

A hand shot out from the entrance and pulled her from the tunnel. Her father embraced her right before the Cockatrice erupted out. Cal’s father threw his arm in the way to block its mouth from reaching her. The Cockatrice sank his sharpened teeth into his right arm. He let out a roaring yell and slung his arm, Cockatrice attached, against the wall. Its head made a cracking sound and dropped off of him. It landed in a crouching position and sprang back toward him. A double-bladed axe arched overhead and cut clean through the Cockatrice’s neck. The severed head landed to the left of the father and daughter and the body to the right. They made wet sounds as they hit the dirt.

Her father dropped to a knee holding her with one arm. His other arm a scarred mess hanging at his side. Cal stared up into his face. Reiger was standing over them with a dark, lined expression.

“Moris we have to act quickly.”

He gave a weak nod. He placed Cal on the ground and gently pushed her away. He dropped down onto his back laying his right arm out. He looked into Reiger’s eyes. His teeth were clenched, and his jaw muscles were flexing. His breathing became deep and heavy out of his nostrils. Reiger did not look away from him. Cal realized what was happening and moved forward. Her father let out a bellow and Reiger’s axe came sweeping down.

There was a loud metal noise in the air as Reiger’s axe severed his arm from his shoulder and hit a rock underneath. Other people were rushing into the scene now. Cal stared at her father’s dead arm. The priests were kneeling next to him. One was pouring something on his gaping wound from a small jar and another was pulling bandages out.

A man’s voice said, “This girl has an egg. She shouldn’t have that. Someone take it away.”

She looked over and it was the man who was supposed to have been Bonded today. He reached out his hand to take the egg when Reiger gripped his wrist.

“Leave her be. She has gone through enough. Look at that egg anyways. Its broken and most likely has Cockatrice venom in it from that crack. That baby dragon is probably already dead.”

He flung the man’s arm away and examined Cal for a moment.

“You weren’t bitten right? Any wounds?”

Cal shook her head.

Reiger gave her a ghost of a smile and turned back to attend her father. He was awake and breathing. The priests were already administering painkillers from their aid kits. Her father was a strong man. She knew that. She heard voices around her saying he would live. Seeing him like this was difficult. It hurt so deep. Down to her bones.

She felt exhausted. She looked down at the egg. The broken part of the shell had partly fallen away. An eye blinked up at her.