Dragonblood Read Free Page B

followed by many voices together. As he staggered to his feet he found himself confronted by the town constable and a group of townies, including his gang boy, Plug. Plug spoke first.
    “Yer alive! I was sure he’d kilt ya, Cim.”
    “I told ya my boy ain’t killed nobody.” Cruss said.
    “What’s that on yer breeches, boy?” the constable asked.
    Cimian looked down and saw the stain on the front of his pants. His face turned beet red, and he spun and raced away. As he ran, falling, getting up and running again, he heard loud laughter following him.
    “Now Plug, maybe you best tell us what really happened out here.” The constable had turned to face the boy.
    While Plug tried to stammer a credible lie, Tallon stepped forward into the clearing.
    “Son!” Cruss yelled, as Maryll hurried to her boy.
    “I’m fine, Pa, Ma.” Tallon said. “I can tell you Cimian and a few of his gang tried to jump me.”
    “Nah, that ain’t so!” cried Plug. “We was just walkin’ along and Tallon here came at us... with a big club! Yeah, a club!”
    “You didn’t mention a club before, Plug.”
    “I just thought of it! I mean, I just remembered it.”
    “Cleve,” Cruss said, “I think it’s clear these boys tried to jump my boy. They been doin’ it fer long as I can remember. Looks like this time they got theirs, that’s all.”
    Cleve took in Tallon’s change in demeanor and the strange way he carried himself now. More confident, he seemed. Heck, he even looked bigger and stronger. “I s’pose you’re right, Cruss.” He said. “Everybody go on home now. It’s all over. Nobody dead and nobody really hurt. ‘Cept Cimian’s pride, maybe.”
    The group broke up and headed for their homes, leaving Cleve, Plug, and Tallon and his parents in the clearing. Plug looked nervous, and rightfully so. The constable asked Tallon if he wanted to make any complaint against Plug or Cimian.
    “No, sir,” he replied, “I reckon we can settle this on our own.”
    “Alright, then,” Cleve said, “Plug, you git on home, now. Try and stay outta trouble for a few days, hear?”
    “Yessir!” Plug exclaimed. “Thanks Tallon, I’ll remember this. I owe you one.” And Plug scurried for home.
    Later, when they were back home and eating lunch, Tallon asked his father, “Pa, how long you known Cimian was pickin’ on me?”
    With a sidelong look at his son, Cruss replied, “A while boy. But I know’d I can’t fight yer battles fer ya. Knew you’d stand up to ‘em one day. Proud of ya, I am.”
    “Thanks, Pa.” But how did I do it? Tallon wondered.
    After days of meditation, Fracco and Blessa met with the Healer to discuss the predicament presented by the incidental bond. They thought to present the problem to the council, but the young one begged them not to. Too many opinions would only muddy the waters. Clear thinking is what was needed.
    Fracco still leaned toward eliminating the human. Blessa and the Healer disagreed. In the end, the young one made the best argument. Both parents were proud of the hatchling’s flawless logic as he convinced them to allow him to court the human, nurture the bond, and so learn more of humans as part of his list of accomplishments to be counted on his naming day. They could turn an accident into an asset. He could do what no other dragon his age had ever done before. And so it was decided.
    The young dragon reached out to the human with his mind, trying to connect, to strengthen the bond. He could feel the human. Contact. It has a name. Tallon. Good name, he thought.
    * * *
    Tallon and his parents decided that like with most problems, hard work would help sort things out. Cruss went out to the field to work, and Maryll began preparing the evening meal. Tallon got busy doing the chores which had gone undone with all the excitement of the day. As he was cleaning the plow horse’s stall he felt a tickling sensation at the back of his skull. He flicked at it with his hand, thinking it was