Rise of the Last Dragon Rider - 002 A Costly Mistake (Patreon)

Pammon thrummed as Kaen watched Huethea approach him.  She had no problem tossing her rank and position around at him.  Where other elves had been reserved in demanding things because he was a dragon rider, she felt it was okay to play the my dad is the king card every time she saw him.

“Rider Kaen, you are late,” she informed him with a look of frustration obvious to anyone who saw her.  “We have been waiting for well over an hour in the throne room.  Do you enjoy making us wait?”

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I was actually finishing up a quest your father personally asked me to complete,” replied Kaen as he gave his best smile, hoping to placate her.  “I had not imagined forty-seven Teratas would pester your people's farmland.  It does take time to fly there, defeat them, and fly back.”

She tapped her finger against her arm as she stood there with them crossed.  Her silver hair was in a braid that hung down to the middle of her back.  She was attractive, but her personality reminded him too much of Fiola’s.

“That would have taken Tharnok half the time it had taken you two,” Huethea informed him as she rolled her eyes.  “Perhaps you are not as skilled as Elies, and my father believes you are.”

A gust of air blew his hair from behind.  Kaen felt Pammon’s frustration at this girl.  It was hard to call someone sixty-something years old a girl, yet the elves who had confided in him during his stay often referred to her as one.

Do you think I would get in trouble if I blew a small stream of fire near her?  Not enough to actually hurt her, but perhaps just to take her down a notch or two.

Oh, I have no doubt you would be fine.  I would get in trouble, but when has that stopped you from doing something?

His thrum echoed in the chamber, and Huethea glared at Pammon before turning her gaze back to Kaen.

“It is not considered polite to have conversations with your dragon in the presence of nobility.  Why do you continue to be such a brute?”

Her voice was like ice down ones back every time she spoke.

“I will have another talk with my dragon,” Kaen replied as he began to undo his bow climbing gear and moved to set it on the hooks.  “It is not my fault if he chooses to ask for permission to breathe fire in your direction, and I have to inform him not to.  I guess next time, I will just let him do as he pleases so that I don’t offend you.”

“He what!?” snapped Huethea, pointing a finger at Pammon.  “Do you forget who I am?!”

“No, princess,” Kaen declared with a shrug.  “Every time we see you, barely any time passes before you remind us of your position in the kingdom.  I have often wondered if I should inform your father, the King, that you are one of the main reasons we will not make this our home.”

Nostrils flared, eyes bulged, and Pammon took notes of how her face looked.  Her pale skin turned red like a cherry as Kaen felt a storm of electricity gathering around them as she pulled mana into her.

“Why… I never…” she stammered, fuming with anger.  “Just wait till my father hears about this!”

She turned and began to stomp toward the door, making sure each step sounded as loud as possible.

“Make sure to tell him what I just told you when you do,” Kaen called out as he winked at Pammon.

I don’t want to get in trouble for what you just did.  There are cows with my name on them, and if I lose them because of you, I will not be happy.

Welcome to the club…

Kaen chuckled as he walked toward the door she had just slammed.

He could not wait to be back in Ebonmount.

“Forgive me, your Highness, for being tardy,” Kaen declared as he bowed slightly toward him.  “I was not expecting almost fifty Teratas, but I wiped out the nest and destroyed all their eggs.”

The king nodded. His face never changed as he watched Kaen standing before him.  He was well over two hundred years old, and his hair had gone a solid white.  Whiter than the string on Kaen’s bow.  His skin had barely any wrinkles, and his blue eyes still sparkled with wisdom and power as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.

“Thank you for doing that for me.  Elies and I felt it would be better if you took on that quest instead of him.”

Kaen nodded and glanced at Elies, struggling to sit still on his cushioned chair.  The smell of rot and decay wafted across the room, even with magical devices designed to replace the smell of death with something more natural.

“How are you today, Elies?” Kaen asked as he moved over to the chair that was near his.

The man winced as he shifted. The pain he felt was evident.

“I am managing, but I am not sure how much longer I can.  You and the King both know I do not have much time left,” he answered with a wheeze in his voice.

He looked nothing like the man he had met two years ago.  His hair was gone, and most of his body was covered in bandages and wraps.  Part of his face was covered from where the rot had moved past his neck.  All the muscle and strength he once had quickly vanished in the last three months.  The only thing keeping him going was Thurnok and his strength.  Every day, the dragon shared more of his power with him.

“Can I do anything?” Kaen asked as he watched his mentor fight back a cough.

He shook his head no, being careful not to move too fast.

“I am glad you were late in coming,” Elies stated as he lost the fight against a cough.  “I have informed Havannath there is nothing more I can teach you.  Tharnok and I have often spoken about how you have done the impossible.  Knowing you two were completely bonded when we found you had surprised us immensely.  Seeing the two of you together doing what you do has made this next stage easier.”

“Elies is right,” Havannath interrupted.  “I wish you would consider staying here, but I also understand your reasoning for returning to Ebonmount.  I want you to know that we will always have a place for you and your family if you ever need to return here.”

Kaen gave a slight bow with his head as he watched the two of them.

They were both old and had spent over a hundred years together.  They were a team unlike any Kaen had seen before.  Neither cared that one was human and the other was an elf.  They were like brothers the way they acted sometimes, and he knew it pained Havannath more than he let on that Elies was soon to depart this world.

“I appreciate the door that will always be open to Pammon and myself,” he replied.  “You both know how badly things have progressed in the last year for the other kingdoms.  My hope is that my presence will slow down their advance.”

Havannath motioned to a servant across the room they sat in.  It was really more of an open-air courtyard, with sunlight and the breeze coming in from a roof that opened up.  A tree grew in one section of the massive room, and walls with weapons, pictures, tapestries, and more lined the circular room under their protective stone ceilings.

The male servant came forward, and Kaen heard the two of them speaking in elvish.

Go and get my daughter and tell her to bring the gift I have.  Make sure she knows I expect her to behave.

Taking a drink from the cup that was provided for him, Kaen did his best to hide his smile.  He had spent months learning the language from one of his sparring partners.  No one, except him knew that Kaen had mastered the language.  It had served him well in a place where people would chide him for talking with his dragon yet chose to speak in a language they thought he didn’t know.

“When do you plan to leave again?” Elies asked as he watched Kaen play with his drink.

“Three days. I need to finish a few last things and ensure everything is in place.  I owe a few people for the training they have given, and I want to make sure they are shown my gratitude.”

A raspy chuckle escaped from him.  Elies bobbed his head slowly.  Kaen had learned the way in which the elves showed gratitude.  Words were nice, but small personal gifts were best to show one's favor.  The larger the gift, the more they meant to them.

Ten minutes had passed as they made small talk when Huethea came into the room with a long package wrapped in fine silk and tied with a black ribbon.  She wore an outfit that revealed her curves, yet the way she glared at him almost made him want to shift in his seat.

“My father would like me to give you this parting gift,” she proclaimed, though the words felt like a dagger was held against her neck to make her say them.  “Your sacrifice and dedication to helping keep our people and kingdom safe must be acknowledged.”

Kaen glanced at Elies and saw that his eyes betrayed him as he watched the gift she held.  Something was off.

“I am honored,” Kaen replied as he stood and moved to where she was standing.  “I have done all this, though without expectation of a gift.  Your roof and food have been a gift worthy of more than I could hope for.”

Needles seemed to leap from her eyes as she narrowed her brows and held back a frown that would have cracked her perfect skin.

“Yet we must. Honor demands it,” she answered as she held out the nine-foot-long wrapped gift, dropping to her knee and holding it above her head.

Embarrassed to see her like this, Kaen quickly took the object from her and felt the shaft of it beneath this silk.

A spear.

“I am honored and will do what I can to never forget this gift.”

Huethea nodded and slowly rose up as she backed toward her father.

Havannath moved to replace his daughter's spot and extended his hand to Kaen.

As Kaen clasped forearms as was their custom, he was alerted of a notification.

[ Charm Resisted ]

[ Charm Resistance Skill Increased x4 ]

[ Charm Resist Skill Evolved ]

He saw the King’s eyes widen in shock, and Kaen gave a slight nod of his head.

When Kaen spoke, his voice had lost all of the warmth he usually showed.  Now it was low and had an edge.

“Perhaps you wanted to add something to receiving this gift?”

“How?” Havannath demanded as he squeezed Kaen’s forearm tighter, shaking his head.

[ Charm Resisted ]

“It won’t work,” Kaen declared as he frowned.

He shook the King’s hand off his arm and glanced at Elies to see if he had been part of this plan.  When he noticed the confused look on his mentor’s face, Kaen realized that Havannath had not discussed this at all with Elies.

Leaning the wrapped spear against his chair, Kaen glared as he shook his head.

“I won’t ask what you just tried to bind me to, but I am afraid it was a poor decision to attempt such a thing,” he informed the King and his daughter as they stared at him.  “I was content to keep my promise and come here regularly and help.  Now, I must weigh if that is the proper decision.”

“Havannath, what have you done?!” demanded Elies as he tried to stand but fell back into his chair.  “Tell me you didn’t attempt to do what he is saying!”

The King’s head lowered, his chin dropping toward the floor as his eyes almost shut.  The look of shame washed over him, and he shook his head, muttering in elvish.

We will die and this boy is a fool to think he can save us all.

“Am I a fool for making a promise, or am I more of a fool for believing the King of the elves would act in a way dishonoring his entire kingdom by trying to bind the last dragon rider to him?”

His head snapped up so fast that Kaen wondered if his neck would snap.  When Huethea realized that Kaen understood her father's words, a gasp came behind him.  That he had to have understood what she had said all those times.

“You know our language!” she shouted, oblivious to the fact of what her father had done.

“Only a fool would not learn a language in a land he has lived for two years,” Kaen replied as he moved to Elies’s side.  “I will not be party to this right now.  I have been dishonored more than words can attest, and no gift, regardless of how pretty the bow on it may be, will make me forget this wound.”

Bending to his knee, Kaen looked up at Elies, who struggled to rise.

“It appears I must leave earlier than I had expected,” Kaen said as he put his hand on the man who had poured everything he could into him for the last two years.  “I cannot tell you thank you for what you and Tharnok have done for us.  I owe a debt I cannot pay.”

Ignoring the look he was getting from Heuthea and that Havannath had fallen to the ground and was shaking, Kaen turned and began to walk toward the exit.

“Wait!” Elies rasped as he willed himself to stand.

Turning around, he saw the dragon rider shaking as his legs struggled to support him.  His arm trembled from the effort required to stabilize himself with the chair.

“Forgive them! Forgive them as payment for what you owe me!”

Growling, Kaen shook his head in disgust and spat on the ground.

“You would ask that?!” he shouted, pointing to the two of them now looking at Elies. “After what he just attempted to do?!  Surely you must be upset that he attempted to…”

Kaen paused. His lifestone did what it had so many times as he worked out problems and found solutions.  It made him think.  It helped him see their faces expressions and understand what he had not noticed.

“He bound you to him,” Kaen whispered as he squinted at the pained look on Elies’s face.  “Even now, he is forcing you to ask not because you want to but because he is making you.”

Elies said nothing as he stood there shaking.  He tried to open his mouth, but words would not form.

Turning his wrath on Havannath, Kaen moved so fast that he was almost instantly standing over him, glaring at him as he shook with rage.

“Free him now from that bond, or I swear I will fly to Stioks and tell him this kingdom is his.  I will tell him I will not defend it at all.  Anything he does here will be free game.”

Havannath’s eyes flashed in rage, anger filled his face, and a sword was heard being drawn from in the room.

As things looked to take a bloody turn, two distinct sounds echoed through the building.  Two different dragons roared in rage.

“I suggest you put that sword away before Stioks does not need to come here for that to happen,” Kaen stated as he pointed to a servant across the room and behind him.  His eyes never left Havannath.  “Now release him or suffer the consequences far worse than you can imagine.”

"And if I command him to order his dragon to attack you?" Havannath asked, his eyes burning with frustration and anger.

"I would resist even if it meant death," Elies stated before Kaen could reply.  "You know what that would make Tharnok do."

Even in pain, hurting, and upset, Kaen could see the stern look Elies was giving Havannath, knowing that he would not budge on this."

Gulping, the anger and rage were gone, replaced by fear. Knowing he had made a mistake he might never recover from, Havannath gasped.

“You do not unde…”

“I will not ask again,” interrupted Kaen.  “If you fail to do it in the next moment, I will leave, and you will be alone for what comes next.”

He opened his mouth once more and then closed it.  He was defeated, and he knew it.  An almost twenty-year-old dragon rider had done what a one-hundred-year-old one couldn’t.  Standing, he walked to where Elies struggled to stand and put his hand on him.

“You have fulfilled your debt,” he whispered.

Jerking from something that happened in his soul, Elies fell backward into the chair.  A breath left him, and he groaned as he hit the padded pillows.

Dashing to be by his teacher, Kaen saw the look on his face, the tears that were beginning to well in his eyes.

“Thank you,” Elies whispered as he smiled, a real one he had only seen once in his two years here.  “Now go.  Leave him to me.”

Kaen gazed at the Dragon Rider before him, who looked like a weight had been removed from his shoulders.  He was still tired and dying, but he seemed different.  Free.

Sighing, Kaen nodded and bent over and kissed the bald, splotchy head of Elies.

“Be safe, my friend.”

As he left the room, Kaen was shocked by the sound he heard coming through the walls.  They seemed to vibrate, and then it hit him.

Tharnok was laughing.