The dragon trainers – Chapter 6: Age of dragons

The five yordles, alongside their dragons started walking in Bandle forest following a dirt road. They haven’t said much since they were informed of a dragon presence in a nearby cave. They were ready for an adventure, but question is… Could they be prepared for what was to come?

: “I don’t like this… This seems too much of a coincidence… The moment we finish training our dragons, another one shows up at our borders?”

: “Rumble is right, I feel like we’ve been spied on before we arrived to Bandle.”

: “Lulu, that’s just crazy talk. Who would even be after us?”

: “Not to mention it’s impossible to get in Bandle undetected, meaning outsiders would have no chance to spy on us.”

: “Unless it was one of us…”

The gang stopped to look at Heimer.

: “You think one of us in Bandle would had spied on somebody?”

: “I won’t make any accusations, but it’s a likely way. That is, IF such a thing is even happening.”

: “Let’s just check on the dragon, I’m sure there’s a logical reason behind this.”

: “So what’s the plan? Dragon might charge at us. I mean, we’re carrying four of their children with us… And clones of one.”

: “Let’s be on our guard and see what happened. If the dragon is alive, we can try to contain it. Worst case scenario, we fight and take him or her down.”

: “We’ll be right behind Rumble, I think Dudley can pack a punch if something shows up all of a sudden.”

Eventually, they arrived at the cave, met up with the other soldiers as they made a small blockade around it. After a short talk, the gang entered the cave. Rumble and Dudley was in the front, Teemo and Tristana held Riggles and Zora respectively as they followed behind Rumble, then Lulu and Heimerdinger had their dragons in the back, just in case something happened. As they dwelled deeper into the cave, they started to hear breathing. It seemed… Slow…

: “He’s asleep?”

: “Maybe wounded…”

: “The dragon is just right around the corner.”

: “Alright, take formation on Rumble.”

They finally reached halfway through the cave, where the dragon resided. They examined the dragon well, it had dark green scales and bits of bright green ones at the belly. As Teemo expected, it seemed asleep. The group slowly approached them, but Zora started to mess around and before Teemo could control her, she flew towards the dragon and landed on the snout.

: Whispers loud enough. “Zora, get back here!”

They had no choice, but to approach the dragon closer. Meanwhile Zora just stared at the dragon’s shut eyes. Eventually, Teemo had to climb on Dudley so he could reach Zora.

: “You don’t even know who we’re dealing with…”

???: “She knows very well who’s she dealing with.”

The gang froze, slowly turning to the dragon. By voice, it was clearly a he, as he opened his eyes, revealing his tired look.

Dragon: “Hello again, my child…”

Zora: Did a majestic pose in front of her father, happy to see him.

: Froze at the idea of the dragon being her father, meaning that he probably hated his guts at the moment.

: Next to Teemo. “Wait, you can talk!?”

Dragon: “No. But I can cast my own words towards you. Via my mind. So far, only you and your dragons can hear me… Even the abominations inside the haired one…”

They looked at Heimer, who seemed neutral about it. He’d clearly stated that the Hufkins were not normal, he wasn’t planning to contest on his point at all.

: Gulped and turned towards the dragon. “Sir… Mr. dragon or… I don’t know…” He started babbling, as if trying to explain his intrusion.

Kou’Lah: “You may call me Kou’Lah. And I may not be content for you to… ‘Hold my daughter’ as your pet, but as long as she’s happy and properly taken care of… I suppose I can overlook it… Out of an ironic sense, I’d almost trust yordles to raise our children than any other race after what I’ve seen.”

: “Wait, you’ve seen me and Tristana with the dragons?”

Kou’Law: “Did you really believe that you managed to snatch two eggs and their parents would go down without a high risk search? I was the designated scout in charge of finding the ones responsible. When I found out about you two taking their children, they got mad and upset, believing you’d be preparing to cook them for survival. But when I scouted ahead… I was relieved. I told them about you females taking the dragons, not as food… But as pets… Maybe even friends. At first, it felt disgusting, but we had planned that if we let them act as pets, we may gain more knowledge of the lesser beings. Since most would be frightened at our presence.”

: “For good reason…”

: Had to snap the back of his head so he’d held his tongue.

: “Well, we were glad to take care of them. Dragons are just so fascinating to us, we believe they can be more than just fearful beasts to the world. They can be adorable little things as well and really good friends when you get them to trust you.”

Riggles: Wagged his tail happily, proud to be with Tristana.

Kou’Law: Looks at his daughter, that was still sitting on his snout. “And this brown one… Is he caring for you equally?”

Zora: Starts almost growling and yapping in some dragon tongue towards her father.

None of the yordles had the slightest clue, Lulu did seem focused to try and figure out what she was saying tough.

Kou’Law: Chuckles weakly. “So this Teemo… He has a heart, but has confusion clouding his mind. I can understand that. Not all choices are to be taken lightly.” He takes a breathing. “I believe you all are confused about why of all places am I here?”

: “We were hoping that you could enlighten us.”

Kou’Law: “Well, first I have to explain our reasoning of not assaulting yordles since the ancient of times. Dragons in the past have noticed that yordles, nearly like dragons, had the ability to outlive many beings. Not as long as us, but enough. A dragon’s life is usually measured in 10-12 yordle generations, making that almost a hundred human generations. Another thing is that yordles are so fragile by nature that our intervention to end your race isn’t needed. We assumed that there were enough species in the world that could easily put you all down in their food chain. However… We were impressed when yordles since the past were able to survive against all odds. Since the dawn of time, you all been intelligent creatures that would be able to outsmart and out beat foes in unique ways than brute force. Seeing such display of intelligence and wisdom, the dragons made a pact. We left the yordles along in hopes that they’d leave our kind alone. Sadly, we never informed any yordles since they still feared our kind as they feared many, which in their circumstances, it was understandable. Fear is hard to overcome, so we just left your kind be.”

: “Great story, but how does all of this relate to you being here in this cave, TODAY?” He said rather impatient.

Kou’Law: “Patience! I will soon explain. As I stated. We made a pact to not harm yordles… Recently, we found out that we were in danger from a yordle. Someone who’s tempting to break this pact. And now… Chaos has ensued among our species…”

: “Which yordle?” He said, his captain instincts kicking in.

Kou’Law: Sighs “I can’t say… I never got to see him, it was all so fast, and most of my brethren that didn’t have certain magic didn’t resist his mind control. By the time I realized what was going on, we had dragons fighting among each other… It was bloody… To say the least…”

: “So you came here to warn us about him?”

: Got a bit sidetracked and noticed something off, she went for a turn around the dragon.

Kou’Law: Not the whole reason, but partial. The yordle said he was going after Bandle City soon, only heard part of it… Since my own wife, Zora’s mother… She attacked me and I had to flee. I saw that Zora, the runaway child of mine was here, so I believed it was best to warn her and any potential yordles of outside events.

: “Well, we can always go back with you to take him on, no?”

: Had a look of shock on her face. “He can’t…”

The yordles looked at Lulu, then looking at where she was looking at. They couldn’t quite see it because of the wing, so Kou, in a deep sigh, lifted his wing to reveal the shocking. He was wounded the whole time, the blood he already lost would had been enough to explain the death of a human family, Lulu even was able to see the gaping wound.

Zora: Now that she saw the wound, she turned to her father, yapping something.

Kou’Law: “Indeed, your mother did this to me. But you must not blame her. She wasn’t herself when this happened.”

: “Why didn’t you told us about it before!? We could had…!!!”

Kou’Law: “I’ve been wounded for a week… I landed here two days ago because I was too weak to fly… And even if I were to ask to help… Who would had helped me?”

: Went quiet as he realized he’d have a point, he punched his leg weakly in frustration.

Zora: Yapped a bit more to her father, half sad and half angry at his silence.

Kou’Law: Chuckles. “You’re like your mother. Caring enough to make a fuzz about it. I really hate to say this, but… I don’t think I can last any longer… My injuries are too severe…” He said in a sad tone.

Zora: Couldn’t help it, lying on his snout, staring into his eyes as she started to sob at the wounded dragon that gave her life to begin with.

Kou’Law: “Zora… You have to be strong… Your mother and I felt awful after that argument… You told us you always wanted to explore the world and that we said it was too dangerous to let you…” He chuckles. “Out of irony, you were safer with these yordles than at home… Had you stayed… You’d probably ended up like me… If not worse…”

: Felt awful at having to hear the dad admitting his death to his own daughter. He knew he had a new purpose in life, even if it costed him a lifetime. “I will find the culprit and lock him up behind as many locks that are possible in life! I will make sure of it!” He says rather angry.

: Looked at Teemo, again she was worried that he was putting his duty before his emotions.

Kou’Law: “Teemo, your worries are elsewhere… But first… I need to ask you a favor… And you have to promise me that you will accomplish it…”

: “Anything. It’s only fair if you bless me with having your daughter go on adventures with me.” He says rather worried.

Kou’Law: Gives a pained sigh before he replies. “If you ever finish your adventure days… And one day settle down, have a family and live happily… My only request… Is that when it happens… You let my daughter go… I want her to be as happy in life as you will be when you’re done… To continue the dragon lineage and be able to perform well with his offspring where I failed to perform with mine…”

: Didn’t hesitate and nodded. “I can do that. I won’t let you down.”

Zora: Was still saddened by the whole thing, she couldn’t believe that any moment he’d pass away.

Kou’Law: Looked back at her daughter. “Zora… I’m sorry… And I love you dearly…”

After those words were spoken, he closed his eyes… And his breathing stopped… For about a minute, he didn’t move, didn’t respond, not even blink… He was dead…

Zora: Started crying, her tears landing on the snout of her dead father.

The rest of the yordles just looked down in pity for Zora, they all felt too close to home, having lost a relative at one point in each of their lives, so realistically knowing the pain.

: “Zora…” He started, unsure how to approach this, but he had to say it. “We must go…”

Zora: After a moment, she sniffed, clearing her eyes before slowly crawling to Teemo’s padded arm. She just stood there quietly, staring down.

: Seeing Zora unhappy as he and Teemo still sat atop of Dudley, he turned to the former captain with a serious look. “We’ll find him… And we’ll make him pay!”

: His expression went serious towards Rumble as he nodded. He then hopped off of Dudley.

With that done, they all walked away, Lulu had one pause to look at Kou’Law one last time before following the gang. As they walked out, they were greeted by the same Sargent that let them inside.

Yordle Sargent: “What of the dragon?”

: “Dead.”

Yordle Sargent: “I’m sure you did what you had to do. We’re getting ready to regroup back to the city. Want a ride there?”

Yordle Corporal: “SIR! UP THE HILL!”

Yordle Private: “WHAT IS THAT, SARGE!?”

The gang and the yordle squad stationed looked up to see a dragon flying over them. What bothered them the most is that the dragon was glowing dark. When it took notice of them, it gave an evil grin before resuming.

Yordle Sargent: “Damn it! It’s heading straight to the city!”

: “There’s no time to waste! Call the alarm! Have them secure the citizens, on the double!”

Yordle Sargent: “Yes, ma’am!”

: “We better go now! Whoever can’t run, climb on!”

Lulu and Heimer, being less proficient in running, sat on Dudley’s arms as Rumble started running alongside Teemo and Tristana, making haste back home!

: During the running, she looked at Teemo and noticed something worrying about him. Both him and Zora had a look of determination, they were willing to avenge Kou and put the culprit behind bars, whatever means necessary! She looked back at the road, in her own thoughts. (Teemo… Zora… Whatever you have planned… Don’t let your hearts cloud your judgement…)

To be concluded…