I see. We go.
Kanin flapped his great wings slowly and they began to descend. No shouts of alarm from the soldiers, no arrows. Khollo sat on Kanin’s back, tense and worried, fearing that if he was wrong about the situation Kanin would pay a high price in arrow wounds. But nothing happened, though the tension in the fortress was thick enough to chew.
Kanin finally landed with a thump and folded his great wings. Khollo loosened the fighting straps and slid down from the saddle, striding towards Janis. He heard a murmur of recognition from those soldiers who remembered him.
Janis embraced Khollo fiercely, nearly crushing him. “If you disappear like that again I will personally kill you,” he muttered.
Khollo grinned. “Good to see you too, uncle.”
Janis released him and stepped back. “This dragon,” he said in a low voice. “Is he-?”
“His name is Kanin,” Khollo said, gesturing to the great beast. “And he is a friend,” he added firmly.
Janis shrugged. “Why not?” he said, clearly dazed and confused. He raised his arms and addressed the fortress at large.
“Khollo has returned, and with a new friend! And just in time for the coming battle. I think you will join me in giving Khollo and the dragon, Kanin, a warm welcome!”
There was some scattered applause and cheering, but most were merely struck dumb at this turn of events. Janis’ smile wavered a little.
“Back to work, then,” he said finally. “Dismissed, troops!” he added more forcefully when nobody moved.
The crowd began to break up, amidst nervous muttering. Everyone gave Kanin plenty of room as they passed him, afraid to come near the dragon or even make eye contact with him. Some kept their eyes averted to a nearly comical degree, finding something fascinating about the ground, the walls, even the sky.
Your humans have very strange customs, Kanin said uncertainly as he studied the display, shifting uneasily. Is this . . . normal behavior for your kind?
Not exactly, Khollo replied, amused by the shenanigans of the West Bank defenders. It will all get sorted out eventually, don’t worry.
“Khollo,” Janis said. “What happened? Where have you been? How do you come to be friends with this . . . dragon?”
Khollo grinned happily. “Come sit with me and Kanin,” he said, gesturing to the dragon. “And I’ll tell you everything. It’s quite a tale.”
Janis hesitated briefly, then followed Khollo to where Kanin stood waiting. He bowed respectfully to Kanin and then sat slightly to the left of Khollo, who was sitting with his back against Kanin’s side.
“Well?” Khollo asked Sermas, Hern, and Ondus. “Are you coming?”
After a brief pause the others made their way forward, a little awestruck, and bowed to Kanin. The dragon nodded briefly to each of them in turn.
This is more like it, Kanin told Khollo. The young warrior grinned.
“Now, I believe you wanted to hear my story,” he said to his old friends. “I assure you, every bit of it is true, but it starts a long time before the day several weeks ago when we freed Kanin from the vertaga.”
Chapter 40
“First of all, this is Kanin,” Khollo said indicating the dragon. “Kanin, this is Janis, my uncle and Ezraan’s brother. And these are Hern, Sermas, and Ondus.”
He does not look like the old one, Kanin said, peering closely at Janis.
Khollo shook his head. “Anyway, a few weeks ago . . . how long has it been anyway?”
“Seven and a half weeks,” Janis said reprovingly.
“Right,” Khollo muttered. “Didn’t realize it had been that long. Anyway, Sermas, Hern, and I arrived at the vertaga fortress Leon’s men had discovered and found it practically deserted, with only a few guards left. We slipped down to the dungeons and found the rest of the garrison, all slaughtered, most of them burned to death. We also found Kanin, chained by all four feet but not muzzled.”
“Nobody said vertaga were very bright,” Janis muttered.
“Kanin tricked them into thinking he was dying so they undid the muzzle to try and give him food and water,” Khollo explained. “Then he flamed them. Anyway, we broke his chains and helped him finish off the vertaga, then Kanin snatched me up and carried me off. That much you already know.”
“After that, we flew for three days, crossing the sea to a remote island. On the island, we discovered ancient buildings as solid as the day they were built, covered in vines and with trees growing all around. We did some exploring and found a massive hall like a throne room, with a statue behind the throne. The place used to be home to the Order of dragons and humans called the Keepers, who kept peace among the kingdoms and empires of the world for hundreds of years.”
“Strange, I would have thought that this Order would be common knowledge, or at least there would be some legends associated with it,” Janis murmured. “I mean, humans don’t just forget about dragons in an instant.”
Nor should they, Kanin interjected, though only Khollo could hear him.
“We’re talking about a span of hundreds of years,” Khollo explained. “Maybe thousands, since the Order fell.”
“Why did it fall?” Sermas asked curiously.
Khollo frowned. “I actually don’t know,” he admitted. “Ezraan never – ”
He stopped as he realized what he had said and looked around. Sermas and Hern were looking confused. Janis looked like he’d been clubbed over the head, eyes glazed, mouth hanging open slightly. Ondus was looking warily at Janis, every muscle tensed in case his friend did something unreasonable.
“Ezraan?” Janis finally choked out. “But he died . . . at Tamor, during the battle.”
Khollo shook his head. “Not quite,” he said gently. “It was a close thing, mind. A vertaga slashed him across the face,
