Reoz The Wise

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. There was a time when the lush green valley was peaceful and teeming with life. It was a charred and desolate place that most sentient beings avoided at all costs. All but Ajani that is. If it weren’t for the fact that he must locate a specific dragon to save his mate, he wouldn’t be in the valley.

Ajani had been traversing the tangled mess of burned trees and scorched earth for several days now. He had been tracking the elusive creature known as Reoz The Wise for weeks now. Reoz was reputed to be the biggest and oldest of the dragons in the valley, so he certainly wasn’t easy to locate. It was a frustrating task tracking him, as it was with any living creature that could fly—picking up the ground trail after such flights proved incredibly complicated, as Reoz often liked to change directions during flight. Pretty smart move when trying to evade capture. However, Ajani was the best tracker on the continent, and unlike others who had tried and failed, Ajani was driven by primal need.

The trail he was currently following was growing cold again, but Ajani knew he was closing in on Reoz. He smelled the scent of the droppings. It was getting fresher. Ajani knew he was closing in on the dragon, and so it fuelled him past his hunger pains and increasing thirst. Ajani stopped to mark the end of the trail with some torn fabric. He then surveyed the landscape around him for signs that the gigantic dragon had indeed taken flight once more. Two distinct directions showed the same signs of damage done to the barren trees scattered about. Ajani would have to follow both to determine if either of them was real. Ajani was convinced that Reoz knew he was being tracked.

Ajani started with the trail closest to his position, assuming it to be the fake and, thus, easily eliminated. The sparse tree's top branches were broken at the top, showing that the enormous mass of the dragon’s body had taken flight among them. This seemed unlikely to Ajani, as Reoz would have known it would leave a trail for him to follow. There was blood on them, which puzzled Ajani. It would have made sense if it had been animal or human blood. After all, dragons must eat. But this was dragon blood. He knew this by its colour, even from his ground position. It was black and shimmering and had an unmistakable stench.

Ajani’s heart almost skipped a beat, thinking that Reoz might have injured himself somehow, eventually making tracking him much easier. He almost allowed himself to get excited by this thought until another thought interrupted his rapture. There was another possibility. It was just as possible that Ajani was not the only creature tracking this dragon. If so, the situation had become much more problematic. If someone or something else found Reoz before he did and killed him, his mate would surely die.

Whatever the case, Ajani now followed the trail of blood in earnest. He was running out of time.

After hours of intense tracking and running, Ajani came to a clearing of sorts. Sitting in the middle of it was Reoz. The giant green dragon was slumped forward at an awkward angle. The ground near his rear haunches indicated that the colossal dragon had skidded to a stop rather than landed gracefully. Ajani's heart sank, and he rushed toward the beast. His disappointment was such that it never occurred to him that this might be a trap.

*** *** ***

Reoz waited patiently for his pursuer to approach. He was tired of being tracked and had decided to force the issue since this idiot human seemed unwilling to give up his quest. Reoz suddenly sat upright and fixed him with a cold stare as the man approached. The man jumped back in alarm at first, then stood there defiantly.

"What do you want of me, Human?" Reoz said calmly.

The man before him seemed surprised and unable to speak for a moment.

"SPEAK!" the dragon commanded, his deep voice echoing all around them.

"I need your help," Ajani answered meekly.

"Of course you do," Reoz responded.

"My mate is dying," Ajani continued. "Without your help, all is lost."

"It is just a mate. You will find another."

"You don't understand, Reoz, my mate...is your sister."

The enormous dragon's emerald green eyes snapped wide open in surprise. He lowered his giant head down to Ajani's level and stared at him intently for a few moments.

"That's not possible!"

"Yes, it is," Ajani answered, lowering his eyes from Reoz's gaze. "She gave me this to prove it to you," Ajani threw a small packet toward Reoz.

Stretching out a forepaw, Reoz retrieved the package and carefully sliced it open with a single claw. Reoz lifted his great maw and let out a blood-curdling roar of anger at the sight of the package's contents.

"She needs you, Reoz. Or else all is lost," Ajani said softly.