Dragon's Future--Chapter 21 a

Twenty-one—Kyanos' Control

Carryl was awakened by someone calling her name.

"Ruskya?" she asked turning over.

"No, Carryl," Cerulean's soft voice replied.  "Wake up though."

She sat up looking around the cave.  It hadn't changed much.  There were only a
handful of riders up at this time.  She glanced up at the hole to see if it was daylight yet.

"It's still dark out, but I thought if you got up now, you could have a bit more privacy to wash and get ready for the day," Cerulean answered her unspoken question.

Carryl nodded and stood up.  She noticed that he had a cloth in his hand and a water skin hung from his shoulder.  He motioned for her to follow him.  He led her out of the cave, through the passageway, and out under the arch that was the entrance to the hatchling cave.  She wondered if Wyn ever had been in the cave as a little dragon.  Cerulean handed her the towel and the water skin.  She almost dropped the skin in surprise when it touched her hand.  It was warm!

"Thank you," she said.

"I thought you would appreciate it.  If we were at our colony, you should have been treated as a guest.  You should be a guest here as well."

Carryl didn't ask how a guest could be there not of her own accord, but he looked at her as if he knew what she was thinking.  His eyes said that he didn't like it any better than she did.  

"Thank you," she repeated and headed off to the little privacy spot she had found yesterday.  

The canyon wall caved back a little from the archway.  Carryl figured it was somewhere along the eastern side of the passageway.  It created a small alcove filled with sagebrush, but also a lone tree.  Finding a log, she sat down and started to wash her face with the tepid water.

As she washed, she decided to check in on Wyn.

"Good morning, Wyn," she called.  "How are you this morning?"

"Good morning, little one," came the reply.  "Things are okay, but I am a bit scared.  The turquoise dragon is in here with me."

"Are you alone with him?" was Carryl's concerned answer.  

"No, his rider is here, and another dragon.  This one is different.  I somehow think I have met him before, but I can't remember when or where."

"That is odd for a dragon."

"I know.  That is why it is bothering me.  He is an odd color."

Carryl thought about it.  Cerulean had said he knew Ardyn and was his apprentice.  Could Wyn have met him and his dragon as a hatchling?

"Wyn, what color is this dragon?"

"It is the color of the sky before a storm."

Carryl sucked in air.  She wondered if Cerulean knew that his dragon was with Wyn.  He seemed able to read her thoughts.  She wondered if she could communicate with him as she did with Ruskya.  She decided to try.

"Cerulean," she called tentatively.

"Carryl?" he replied immediately with an edge to his voice of concern.

"I am fine," she assured him.  "There is no danger.  I just wondered if you knew where your dragon is."

"What do you mean?" came the cautious reply.

"Wyn says there is a dragon the color of the sky before a storm with her along with the turquoise dragon and Kyanos."

There was a pause without any reply.

"Cerulean?" she called as she tightened the stopper on the water skin.  "Are you there still?"

"I am here," he replied angrily.  "Come, now.  Let's go."

Carryl gathered her things and hurried back to where she had left him.  Cerulean grabbed her arm and pulled her along.  Instead of going back down the passageway, he led her to the right of the entrance.  It appeared to be just the end of a box canyon, but Cerulean found a path that led deeper back.  Soon she was having to avoid plants and twigs both beside and above her.  One moment she was ducking under a twig from a sagebrush and the next she was in what felt like total darkness.

"Cerulean?" she whispered.  "Where are we?"

"Hush," he replied in a whisper right in her ear.  "I don't want him to know we are here.  Follow me without making a noise."

Carryl thought that would be unlikely since it was pitch black, but he placed her hands on his shoulders and started to walk steadily forward.  Soon her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, and she too could see a bit to put her foot in front of her.  Before long, they came to light.  A large cavern opened up before them lit with torches around the walls.  Carryl dropped her hands from Cerulean's shoulders, just as he marched off to Kyanos.

"How dare you," he accused.  "Kyanos, you told me you would let me do it my way with Ceruly.  You said I could wait until we returned home."

His statements and his long stride brought him to stand in front of Kyanos.  Kyanos' build still gave him an advantage over Cerulean; yet Cerulean seemed to be on equal footing with the large rider.

"You think I have offended you?" Kyanos said with a voice trying to sooth.  "I was thinking of your honor, Cerulean."

"My honor?  How?" the younger rider asked puzzled.

"I have stated that only those whose dragon's have had a chance with this one will be able to leave first.  I have decided to make the others wait until they return home.  Yours will be the last dragon to have the chance here.  Then you can ride him and lead her back home as your own if you wish."

"How dare you!" Cerulean spat the words out.  "As if I could own a dragon!  You add insult to injury, my friend."

"Friend I am, and yet you do not accept the gift I am offering?"

"It is not yours to offer.  It is the dragon's to offer.  She has already given herself to her rider."

"Then you take her rider with you, and the dragon will follow."

Kyanos caught Cerulean's hand before it reached Kyanos' face.  

"I would not try that, Cerulean," Kyanos said icily.  "I am trying to honor you.  Yet you do not accept and try to strike me," he paused.  "Do not try that again," he repeated with emphasis.