The New Alveri Chronicles

The Watchdragons

CHAPTER 2

It wouldn't hurt to get the time and date of the fight fixed down early, that way I could let Marcus know earlier, which might actually draw in a bigger crowd. With that in mind, I headed back toward the southeast gate, only a short flight away from the fighting ring located on the outskirts of New Alveri.

The best way to rile up someone for a fight, was walking straight up to them and challenging them of course! I waited just inside the minor gate, waiting for Kaj to notice me. I didn’t mind too much the time I spent staring up at the colossal city walls, but I did want to Kaj to hurry up and fly down so I could request a sparring match with him; I felt pumped and ready at long last! However I finally grew bored with waiting and walked into the gate. When I looked up to his perch, I found the big oaf asleep! Now, I did know that Sky-Swallowers are known to sleep for a vast amount of time, yet I wasn’t the patient sort of dragon.

“KAJ!!!” I roared, sending a flock of grey pigeons fluttering into the sky; almost immediately, three of them were cut down by the hawks which prevailed in the area due to the city’s tall stone buildings.

After a moment of silence I was about to roar again but then Kaj lifted a wing from where it had been covering his face. “Stop it Darzhja.” Kaj yawned, exposing his dual rows of curved fangs.

“Kaj? You’re awake?” I asked looked up to the massive dragon; massive purely because of his heritage. For as long as I could remember, Kaj had guarded the southeast gate, but he was still considered young for his lumbering, long-lived species. There were some legends of Sky-Swallowers living a literal millennium, but Kaj had always assured me they were just that, legends. One thing was for sure, Kaj was going to be there at that gate for many historical eras to come, like the stone which endures historical eras and watches empires come and go.

“Not really.” I heard him say, yawning again.

“Oh come on. Wake up Kaj. You said we would fight if I were strong enough and I sure feel strong enough now.” I said happily. “Today, I managed to defeat a wily veteran named Krieg!”

Kaj blinked a couple of times with his heavy eyelids, as if perpetually in slow motion. “Krieg?” growled Kaj, “He is decent enough I suppose. One of those vagrants that drifts outside the city walls if I recall.”

Despite being half asleep a lot of the time, Kaj nonetheless saw many dragons come in and out on a daily basis, and as a result was usually well informed of who was who inside and immediately outside the city.

I heard him sigh, his scaled jowls lifted a bit and flapped with the force of his breath. “Feeling strong and being strong are two completely different things.” he said dismissively, leaning forward with his claws on the edge of his perch.

“Kaj… Please?” I begged. I thought about mentioning how I could tell his superior that he was napping on the job again, but I would never do that to Kaj and the big dragon knew it.

“No.” He stated firmly and withdrew from the edge, putting his head back down on the stone supporting his considerable bulk.

“Why not? I fought my share of battles and won.” I said proudly puffing out my chest despite the fact that Kaj was no longer looking.

“So, you won against a few vagrants and exotic beasts that Marcus has you beat up for entertainment. I know you like fighting, and I’ll even admit that you have some raw skill, but right now isn’t the time Darzhja,” said Kaj. He let out a yawn. “If you really want a thrilling match, why not go fight one of the Holy Knights?” said Kaj. He probably had not meant to be taken seriously, but the more I began to think about the possibility, the more I liked it.

“Kaj! You’re a genius!” I yelped.

“Wait what?” snapped Kaj, now only a quarter asleep rather than half asleep now.

Yet I wasn’t listening at this point, “I’m going to challenge one of the Holy Knights to a fight! Then, when I prove my strength, they’ll certainly let me in!!” I vowed.

“Darzhja, that’s… I really didn’t mean that you shou…" he fumbled, now clawing again at the edge of his perch to look down.

Without bothering to listen further to Kaj’s warning, I took off again, deeper into the city. Dragons all but clogged the skies and could be seen conversing on the wide boulevards with each other and a multitude of humanoids - humans, dwarves, elves, halflings and all of their varieties. As I passed by, some of the humanoids waved at me to say hello. I can proudly say that I had gained a bit of a reputation as a fighter amongst the citizenry of New Alveri, but then again, dragonkind was still comparatively uncommon to the point that a very well-informed citizen knew the names of each of the draconic residents of the city. I would usually say hello back, as I knew it would make a small humanoid’s day whenever I did so; what can I say, I’m a friendly drakka after all!

However, I wanted to be more than just well known to the crowds of faceless humanoids. I wanted something more, and to me, The Holy Knights were it. They were the defenders of the Empire, the strongest of the strong and the most glorious of the glorious! Since I was small, I had always dreamed of one day joining their ranks, and that was one of the reasons why I fought so often.

On the north side of New Alveri, there was a great slope, and a narrow canyon-like passageway that connected the City of New Alveri to the Dragon Temple, the giant crater of an extinct volcano that was the base of operations for the order. I had always dreamed of seeing what was on that opposite side of that wall, but only Knights and their families were ever allowed inside; you couldn’t even fly over for a peek!

At the edge of the canyon was a massive gate which had been carved into the mountainside, framed by huge columns of marble and diamond. Such a massive structure could have only been constructed by draconic claw, for no group of human had the strength or size to literally move mountains. From time to time, I liked to visit the gate and just sit outside for a while, fantasizing about what was beyond it, and imagining myself proudly clad in shining armor. It was a childish fantasy, I know, but still something of a guilty pleasure, even now as I was on the cusp of adulthood.

However, today there seemed to be a new guard watching over the gate’s entrance, one I had never seen before. Up until now, it had been old crotchety, one-eyed Jyscal who had manned the gate, an old veteran of not only the Draconic Civil War, but also the Armani Troll Invasion of more than a quarter millenia ago for Ancestors sake! He usually rasped at passerbys and always seemed to notice the slightest movement even though, well, he only had one eye. Apparently, the old wyrm had finally been put out to pasture, and taking his place was a young, sharp looking, regal bronze drake clad in gleaming armor, standing up proud and straight. These were the types of dragons, the handsome, strong and muscular sort, that I always envisioned whenever I pictured ‘Holy Knight’ in my imagination, not the old weary disfigured veterans, brave as they were, who were missing limbs and eyes from the Draconic Civil War.

“State your business,” grunted the young guard.

I was taken aback by the blunt request, but I stood up as straight as I could and looked the guard straight in the eye.

“My name is Darzhja, and I intend to be a Holy Knight one day!” I said proudly as I flared my wings and flourished my tail. One had to develop a talent for dramatic poses when one was paid to fight for entertainment.

“Good for you,” he snorted dismissively, “Now what do you want? I don’t have all day.”

I scowled slightly and tucked my wings back. “I intend to challenge the strongest dragons throughout the land! I have already achieved many such victories, and I challenge you to an honorable sparring match at the old coliseum outside of the city walls, dragon vs dragon! If I win, then I’ll have proved that I’m strong enough to become a Holy Knight!” I declared confidently, a wide grin plastered on my face.

The guard’s lower jaw twitched, as though he was having to struggle from laughing out loud.

“Are you kidding me? Why would I want to do something like that? Go home drakka!” he growled. Smoke billowed out of my nostrils, and I was now even more determined to challenge the Holy Knight to a fight! Many had underestimated me before, and he would learn the same!

“Not until you agree to fight me, The Queen of Lowtown!” I insisted. “In fact, I’ll challenge you to fight right now if you so choose!” I stamped my forepaw against the stony ground, sending a shudder through it that a humanoid could feel through their boots for a good distance around.

The words had come out of my mouth before I could think them through, but now that I had said them, I wasn’t going to back down. Whenever a dragon said they wanted to fight, they had best be prepared to back up their talk. The guard first gestured to his squad of humanoid knights with a wing, indicating to them to back off, before he jumped carefully down from his perch to confront me; I noticed how light his step was, despite the armor. Up close, the regal bronze drake was far bigger than I had imagined, glaring down at me with blazing orange-tinged eyes at least two feet higher than my own.

“Do you really think you can beat me?” he asked haughtily with a tone that set my blood aflame, “Last chance, otherwise I won’t be able to guarantee what happens to you.”

A tiny voice in my head whispered that I might have been in over my head, however, I had already bent down into a fighting position, ready to knock the arrogant guard down a peg. As incredulous as he sounded, I could nonetheless tell that he wanted that fight as well, it was written all over his posture, and no dragon could resist a good fight.

I surged forward and let out a roar, preparing to tackle the guard and get inside his reach. Quicker and with greater precision than I ever imagined possible, the guard evaded to the side, and the next thing I knew, I was knocked off my feet and rolled onto my flank, my wing tucked under me. My head spun, but before I could recover the watch dragon had pinned me down, a heavy paw pushing down on my neck just below the jaw.

“W-what!?” I gasped in disbelief. I struggled to shake the dragon off of me, but he was too strong. It had happened so fast! My mind was still whirling. Where had that counter move come from? How had he moved so quickly in that armor?

“Yield now,” he snarled and I could feel his hot breath against my cheek. I growled back at him definitely, even though I knew it was probably a stupid, futile move.

I was proven right a moment later as I felt his powerful muscles flex and I let out a yelp; he had my foreleg in a painful lock I’d never encountered before. He pressed down harder against me “I won’t repeat myself again. Yield now!”

“Fine! I yield! I yield!” I shrieked frantically. It felt like my foreleg was about to be dislocated, broken or both.

The guard pulled away and snorted disdainfully. I gingerly pulled myself back up to all fours and licked a little at my smarting leg.

“Here is your answer. You have lost to me, Fangorn of Clan Irontail, newly ordained Holy Knight of Draconia. Whatever skill you thought you had, I have shown you the difference between an amateur street fighter and a professional warrior trained from birth to defend the Empire from danger. As things stand you are not qualified to join the Knights, not by a long shot!” announced the guard. Only now did I notice the crowd of humanoid spectators that had borne witness to my humiliation, but I still released a growl in the other dragon’s direction. I could not allow this arrogant jerk to see me so downtrodden!

“For assaulting a Holy Knight on duty,” he continued in his grand speech, still puffing out his chest! “I have the legal authority to place you under arrest. However, since today is my first official day as an on-duty knight, I will be lenient regarding your lack of judgement and hope that you have learned a valuable lesson today. Go home, drakka, and don’t ever do something like this again!” finished Fangorn. I didn’t think I could hate a dragon more than I did him in that moment.

I knew that it had been Fangorn’s intent to shame and intimidate me. In fact, the arrogant jerk might have even thought that he was being chivalrous by deciding not to place me under arrest and settle only for humiliating me, but all that did was make me more determined than ever to get stronger. I now had an opponent, one that I desperately had to beat. “I’ll be back! Fangorn! Next time we meet, you had best be ready!” I cried before turning tail

I stormed off with my head held high, even though I was still limping. Oh, that jerk might be laughing now, but that meant revenge was going to be so much sweeter! However, I could not help but feel doubt creep into my heart, because as difficult as it was for me to reconcile, Fangorn’s fighting prowess had been frightening. During my fighting career, I had won a lot more often than I had lost, but the few times I had lost, it had usually been after a close fight. That fight against Fangorn though… I had never been beaten so badly before, and he had done it effortlessly. What made it worse was that Fangorn wasn’t even an experienced Knight either, but rather a dragon who did not look to be that much older than I was and that this was apparently only his first day on the job! Were all Holy Knights as monstrously strong as Fangorn? No, I decided, Fangorn simply had to be exceptionally strong, and that was why he was tasked with guarding the gate to the Dragon Temple!

However, what was true was that for the first time, I truly had doubts of how strong I really was, and how much more I had to overcome on the path that I had set for myself. The sun was going down by then, and that meant I had to head back to the orphanage.