A long Journey 3

Some twists in life are simply strange. I lived in the year 2012 and was on my way to South America. On the way, the plane crashed, I was captured and thrown back into the year 616 BC. But it didn't stop there. I was turned into a black dragon and had no idea that I was thrown back in time, until I met another dragon. He bound himself to the land and waited for the first member of the new dragonic race, going into ascension shortly after he had taught me all I would need. I stayed behind and waited through the millenia, guiding my past self to fall into the portal and closed the circle, like it was foretold in the scrolls of the first race. I freed my race from scientists after that task, leading them into an unknown future.

My whole race was sitting in front of me, nineteen dragons without names and one child. One could say that so few wouldn't make a race, which was able to survive. But this statement didn't include our average lifetime. We dragons could live for a very long time and outlive any other species. Take me for example. I'm 2628 years old and had seen everything, even the destruction of Atlantis. One of the things I'm not very proud of, being the reason why it was destroyed in the first place.

We were on the island called Corvo and had fled from a group of scientists, that wanted to use us for the 'benefit' for humanity. They had captured us after the crash of the plane, which should have brought us to South America for our holidays. As they captured all of us, they injected us with a serum which turned us into dragons. The send each one of us through a portal, which caused us to arrive here. Though mine caused me to travel 2600 years back in time too, which was caused by myself. Pretty confusing, isn't it?

The plan then was focused onto the newborn dragons on the actual Corvo, on which I teleported myself. I arrived at the mine and let the scientists do their thing, faking me being unconscious. Most of the other dragons still couldn't believe what happened and were unused to their new bodies and life. We fled out of the mine shortly after and I sealed it, using the very power that the scientists wanted to use for themselves.

It took the others by surprise, not knowing about their capabilities or my background. I began to explain to them what happened to me and how we would deal with being dragons in this modern world.

“And finally I was thrown in front of the door. You know the rest.” I finished my story.

I had started to explain it in the middle of the day and the sun was about to set as I finished it. Most of the dragons were laying on the grass and listened to me, with exception of the child which fell asleep halfway through. I couldn't blame him for that though. Many of the older dragons were quite tired too and yawned in relieve as I finished my story.

“That's incredible. You are really that old?” Asked Stef in amazement.

“Yes, I'm 2628 years old. Plus minus one or two.” I answered thoughtfully.

“You said that you have found your true name, but never told it. Why?” Asked the silver dragoness.

“Because you have non. We only tell our true name to someone, who has one. If you find yours, I'll tell you mine.” I replied.

“How does it feel to fly?” asked the white dragon.

“You'll find out pretty soon.” I laughed, “You have those wings for a reason.”

“Are there other dragons? You said that you got taught by one.” Asked the red dragoness.

“Yes there are, but not on this planet any more. It's difficult to explain at the moment, but you'll see it eventually.” I explained.

“What do you plan for the future?” The golden dragon asked.

“Show you all things you need to survive. After that, who knows?” I said.

“So you have no idea?” He asked.

“I may be old, but I can't see in the future. Everyone has to go his own way, living along with the humans. Maybe even return to your old life.” I replied.

“How should we do that? We are dragons. Could be a bit difficult to explain that on work.” The green dragoness said.

“Like I said, I lived with them for a long time. We have a few ways to blend in, but first you must acquire your true name.” I said to her.

“And how do we do that?” She asked.

“Who knows, most dragons find it out themselves. You know it, when it's time. Another way would be a kind of meditation, but I promised the ancient that I wouldn't do that.” I replied.

“Why?” Asked Arnold.

“Because it's deadly. I did it myself and almost died. Your life is to value to go the fast way and that is the reason I promised, that I wouldn't do it.” I explained.

“How long does it take to find it without meditation?” He asked.

“I don't exactly know, could be days or weeks. I hadn't the time back there, so I never had to wait. I could ask though.” I replied.

“You can speak with the ancient?” The black dragoness asked.

“Yes, it's difficult but possible. It took me almost 500 years to figure out.” I replied, as I noticed that more and more dragons fell asleep,“Lets rest for now. I don't want to repeat my self over and over again. I'll start to train you tomorrow and talk with the ancient dragons about a few things.”

“But first I have to talk to that human, who observed us since I started to talk.” I said and jumped into the air, flying to the place I had noticed him after a short time into the story.

He hid behind a rock on the ridge next to a small road, which let into the valley and upon closer look I saw that it was the young guard I let escape earlier. He hadn't even left his place by the time I reached him, pinning him into the ground as I landed.

“Seen enough?” I asked him, while watching him carefully.

“Yes I have.” He stuttered.

“I'm curious. Why did you watch and what did you hear?” I asked him.

“I saw how you sealed the mine and then started to tell your tale. It was loud enough that I could here it from here. Did that really happen, that they kidnapped you and turned you into a dragon?” He answered, still having a worried look on his face.

“Yes, it happened. Word by word. Though now I have a problem again. You heard the story and I don't know what I should do with you.” I replied thoughtfully, examining the young guard, “Why did you join that group?”

“I had my orders. They paid for our service and I only got in that group, because one soldier was missing. I normally guard warehouses, not secret facilities and they made sure that I wouldn't tell anyone.” He said.

“How?” I asked.

“They threatened me to kill my wife and me, should I said anything.” He replied, sighing heavily.

“Can you proof this?” I said to him.

“I can, if you release me.” He answered. He had nowhere to run so I let him go.

He stood up and took his purse out. In it was a small photo of him with a woman, proofing at least that he had a wife. The background of the photo showed the mountains we stood on.

“You took that photo here. Is your wife on this island?” I asked, looking down towards the small village.

“Yes she is.” He said nervously.

“Bring me to her, so I know you said the truth. And I would have an offer for you if it is. Which would solve both of our problems.” I replied.

“What offer?” He asked.

“You'll see. But first bring me to your wife.” I replied and changed to my human form of Jan Meier, which caused the guard to step back.

“How did you do that?” he asked, while I searched for my glasses to conceal my eyes.

“Magic.” I answered smiling, “Lets go. I want to be back before sunrise.”

It didn't take long to reach the village, which had a nice ambience. The village had about fifty houses, which were concentrated near the beach and becoming thinner in density as you got farther away from it. We stopped in front of a house at the rand of the village. The Guard opened the door and went in, followed by me.

“Honey?” He asked.

“Jack? Thanks god, I was worried. You never came back home that late.” A woman said, while hugging the guard until she saw me “And who is that?”

“Difficult to say, perhaps my new boss. My old job went down in molten lava.” He said, “Though we shouldn't have any more problems with my old work.”

“What?” She gasped.

“He and around twenty other persons, were kidnapped by my old boss. May I introduce you to my wife Zoe.” He said to me, as I shock the hand of Zoe.

“Jan Meier, nice to meet you Zoe.” I replied friendly.

“Wait? The Jan Meier?” She said, while pointing towards a book on the shelve, “Jan Darastrix Meier?”

“That would be me. I see you have a few of my books.” I said smiling.

“Can it be, I read them myself and I heard your story. That aren't stories you made up, aren't they?” Jack asked curiously.

“What are you talking about?” Zoe asked.

“I know what I saw and what I heard. You're writing biographies rather than stories and I always wondered how they could become that authentic.” Jack said, while ignoring Zoe completely.

“No way to dismiss that claim. You saw what I am and that's because I'm here. I want you to be our link to humanity. You are intelligent and have a good portion of courage, it's what we need. Additionally I have twenty mouths to fill, the cattle on this island isn't enough for that. Your wife can help, if she wants.” I explained, explaining our needs.

“What's going on, you both are confusing me.” Zoe yelled and stopped my explanation abruptly.

“Zoe, it's a bit difficult to say. You see, the dragon in your stories is real. In fact he is standing in front of you.” Jack said, “And he is offering us a job.”

“Sure.” Zoe replied huffing, “Dragons don't exist. Never have and never will.”

“Oh dragons exist, the last of the old generation died 2600 years ago. I was the only one of my kind for a long time. If you want a proof, look into the valley behind the mountains, or in my eyes.” I explained.

“Why should I show in your eyes. They look pretty hum...” She said, while I was taking down my glasses, “Oh my god. Your eyes.”

“Yes. My eyes. 2600 years and I still haven't figured out, how to conceal them. Kind of annoying sometimes.” I explained, stepping towards the open door, “My offer still stands and I have enough money to support you for this tasks. Though this has to stay a secret, until we decide to reveal ourself. And I must return to the rest of my race for now. I'll expect your answer tomorrow.”

I saw that the two watched me, while I was walking away and I switched back to my true from to give Zoe a good impression of me, before I flew away. It took only half a minute to return to the valley and most of the dragons were asleep by now, except Stef and the black dragoness. Both took a few steps back as I landed, but not a single dragon woke up because of the noise.

“And? Did you get him? What took you so long?” Stef asked.

“I had much to discuss with him. In short. I offered him and his wife, the job to be our link to humanity and support us with enough cattle.” I replied, “I hope that I choose the right person for this. His wife was a big fan of me though.”

“Fan?” The dragoness asked.

“Yes. She read a lot of books, I wrote while waiting on you.” I said with a laugh.

“I didn't know that you wrote books, Rob.” Stef said.

“Oh I did, but under another name. Do you know Jan Meier?” I laughed.

“I know the name, never read one of his books though.” He replied.

“I did and I even was on that convention in Munich just to get a signature.” The dragoness replied.

“So you're a fan too, eh? Still don't know your name, young one.” I said smiling.

“Oh it's Sarah. And what's with the young one. I'm not young, I'm 35 years old.” She said, huffing.

“Every dragon that didn't has it's name, is either called young one or whelp. If you prefer whelp, so be it.” I said, while trying to keep a straight face.

“No no no, young one is just fine.” She replied fast.

“Don't worry Sarah. I won't call you with that name so often.” I laughed, “It's still the traditional way we dragons talk to nameless ones though. You'll get used to it.” With that I searched for a good spot to lay down and began to sleep.

The first thing I noticed as I woke up was a weight on my head, the second was the yelling of a few dragons. The weight was moving strangely, so I opened my eyes carefully and saw that four dragons were standing around my head. The golden dragoness was one of them, while her child was nowhere around. All of them had troubled expressions on their faces, while the dragoness was looking very embarrassed.

“He is on my head, isn't he” I asked sleepy, while raising my head slowly which caused the weight to glee.

“I'm so sorry. We couldn't stop him. He was on top of your head before we could stop him.” The dragoness said.

“Ah let him be for now. His claws tingle and it's a nice feeling. He'll get tired sometimes and then he'll come down.” I replied, while looking around slowly.

The other dragons were talking to each other or laying around lazily. A few tried to improve their walking or tried their wings, flapping them a bit. They stopped and came towards me, as they noticed that I was awake. Most dragons walked around in pairs of the same colour, while the rest was staying around alone. I began to talk as everyone sat in front of me, trying not to throw off my passenger.

“Everyone here? Good. I saw that a few of you tried to improve their walking technique, which is a good start. We'll take small steps, starting with walking and running. As you may know from my story, we have time to practice everything, be it running, flying or swimming. Magic is not possible at this time, because you haven't received your name yet. Forget about everything you do should you learn about it and come to me for instructions and don't try to fly until I tell you a few things.” I explained, looking to everyone, “Any questions so far?”

“I read about something a while back, though it belongs to a fantasy book. Are there any differences between us dragons?” A brass dragon asked curiously.

“Yes there are, young one. For example” I explained, pointing on the black dragoness, ”Black ,bronze, green and golden dragons are capable of breathing underwater. While the silver dragons are able to sit on clouds, if they want. White dragons are able to walk on ice without problems. Red and gold dragons grow a bit faster, while brass and bronze dragons are able to talk to animals. copper dragons are able to walk on walls. And every race has a immunity against something.”

“Immunity?” Came from several dragons.

“Yes let me show you.” I said, while forming a small ball of fire which I hurled at Stef before he could react. The ball hit him with full force, but didn't harm him in any way, “You see, red dragons can withstand any kind of fire, be it a lighter or even lava. We will talk about that later and I think your ancestors will tell you more about your race should you find your name.”

“Our ancestors? But my ancestors were humans. How can they teach me anything about being a dragon? Or how should I be able to speak to them to begin with.” The white dragon asked.

“Your serum belonged to a family tree of dragons, be it golden or green. Now you belong to a family of dragons, all of you. But don't worry. Most of them are nice people, if you know them better.” I explained.

“What should we do now?” Sarah asked.

“Now you'll walk three rounds around the lakes, young ones. After that you'll run three, until you have no problems with the walking any more. Then we'll hunt and hopefully talk with the mayor of the town behind the mountains.” I replied.

“Why should we, I can walk just fine.” Said the brass dragon.

“Because I said it, whelp. If you have problems with that, we can fight about it.” I growled, which silenced him immediately and they began to walk away.

“Must I walk around the lake too, uncle?” Came a voice from my head.

“Uncle, eh? For now it's enough, if you walk around me. And please don't disturb me, I want to talk to my friend.” I replied as I lowered my head, so he could get off me.

I laid down after he started to walk around me and concentrated on the spell, which would enabled me to speak with Aab. It took a while like always, but I received an answer in the end.

“Voken, good to hear from you again.” Aab said.

“Same, old friend.” I replied, “How is it on your end?”

“Fine, we try to weave a spell that enables us to send our spirits to you. Until then you have to babysit the new dragons.” He chuckled.

“That would be great, we haven't seen for so long. Any expectation how long it takes, until it is ready?” I asked.

“Not that long, they started yesterday and by now have the basics ready. They use the matrix of the spell, you use to communicate with me and are modifying it. They said our first test will be this evening, but that only will tell if the link to your world will work.” He explained, “What are the new dragons doing?

“Walking or running who knows. Send them around the lake for a few rounds, so they could adapt to walk on all four. Most of them still stumble around awkwardly.” I replied, “I'll start flying lessons in the evening, if the weather holds.”

“Going through the basics I see. No true names until now?” Aab asked.

“No, not yet. But that has time, magic will only distract them now and they have much to learn.” I replied.

“True. Hey. If we manage to enable the link, could you show me something of the modern world? I've waited for millennia and I'm really curious.” He asked shyly.

“Sure, Aab. I Waited a long time for that. I would have tried to send you something, if you hadn't begun to search for a spell. Can't ignore the wish of my oldest and best friend, can I?” I laughed.

“Pft, oldest. I'm only 11975 years old if you don't count the years I was bound to that island. Compared to my own race, I'm very young. Even got a few nice dragonesses who are following me.” Aab huffed, which caused me to laugh yet again.

“That joke still works, even after 800 years. I think I know why your father always tries to scare you.” I said.

“Very funny. By the way. He and the council want to talk to you when the spell is ready.” Aab replied.

“Oho, the last time I spoke to them was as I turned into a dragon. What do they want?” I asked curiously.

“I'm not sure. I think it's because of the new dragons.” He replied, while his voice grew distanced.

“I think the dragons are back, lets talk again later. Perhaps even in person.” I said.

“I hope so, Voken. Have fun.” He laughed, while I was cutting the connection between us.

I awoke form the deep meditation, which was necessary to maintain the connection. Every dragon  was standing around me as I opened my eyes, some with worried looks on their faces.

“Rob? Are you ok?” Stef asked.

“Yes, I'm. What else should I be?” I asked confused.

“You had almost no pulse as we checked last time. What did you do?” Sarah asked.

“I talked to my friend. The spell is very difficult and it takes almost all my concentration to maintain it. It seems that my body may slow down while doing that.” I explained, thinking about the connection.

“How is it up there? I can't imagine what there is, on that plane.” Arnold asked.

“A bit shinier than here, but except of that almost identically.” I chuckled, “Are you finished with walking and running?”

“Yes and it helped a lot. Now walking feels almost normal, even sprinting is no problem any more.”
Stef replied, and I saw different dragons nod.

“Good. Then we'll try hunting.” I said, which caused several dragons to gasp, “I said it yesterday. I won't hunt for you. You must kill it yourself, well except for our little whelp here.”

“But we don't know how that works. The flock always runs away, when we come closer than fifty meters.” replied the green dragoness.

“It's never easy on the first time. Especially the kill. But it's a thing you must learn, if you're in the wilderness and it's important to know generally.” I explained, while shrinking to their size, “First it's important to stay out of sight as long as possible. You see at the moment the flock is near the water. A good thing for our water breathing dragons. You simply dive to them and ambush them out of the water. For the others find the wind direction and sneak against it, so that your pray don't take you scent and stay as low as possible. If you do it correctly, you can sneak almost next to them without noticing. Let me show you.”

With that I walked towards the flock and stayed out of their side and against the wind. I went into stalking position as I was only hundred meter away and began to slowly made my way towards them. To increase the difficulty, I had chosen a stag in the middle of the flock. I was almost next to them as they realized that I was there, but it was to late for my prey. With one leap I was onto him and ripped his throat open, killing him instantly while the flock ran away.

“See, that's all. Stay out of sight, against the wind and stalk the rest of the way very very slowly.” I explained, while I took my first bite from my prey, “Who wants to try it first?”

No one stepped forward at first, while all were whispering. It took a few minutes until the first took a step forwards. It was Sarah, followed by Stef and Arnold. They looked at each other and began to walk towards the flock, who had settled down on the other side of the lake. They began to stalk as they got closer like I had told them. They attacked a bit to early though and caused Stef to miss his prey which he had to catch then. The three dragged the bodies towards the water and began to eat themselves.

“You see, first time they try it and it's success.” I said, while cleaning the blood of my scales, “Choose who's next and everyone who is done with eating can come to me for the next lesson.”
The golden dragoness was in the next group and she wanted to leave her child in the group, which he didn't like so much. I used the time while she was telling him to stay, to return to my normal size and after that went back to them. The two dragons which were waiting for the dragoness looked rather annoyed as I arrived.

“Hey, small one.” I said to the child and looked at his mother, “What's the matter?”

“He wants to stay with me, but I don't want him to see how I hunt. Can't believe that I actually said that.” She replied, “Could you watch over him as long as I'm away.”

“What about you, small one. Want to stay with me until your mother comes back?” I smiled, looking at the child.

“Only if I may sit on your head again.” he replied directly, much to the further embarrassment of his mother.

“Look at that, the small one demands something. A difficult decision.” I joked and lowered my head so he could climb up on it, “Hop on, small one. Your mother will return with you meal shortly.”

I looked at his mother as he was on my head and clinging to one of my horns. “I'll wait with the three other dragons over there. Good luck with the hunting.” I said to her.

“Thank you very much. I'll make haste so he bothers you not that much.” She replied.

“Take as long as you need. I think I can handle him a while.” I chuckled, “Now go on. The others are waiting.”

I made my way towards Sarah, Stef and Arnold, while looking how the next group was handling things. Like the group before, they didn't wait long enough and leaped to early, causing the whole flock to run away again. Sarah and Arnold looked at me as I arrived, while Stef was concentrated on his prey. I saw that the dragoness finally caught something, pulling the dead body towards us.

“What do you have on your head, Rob?” Sarah asked, as she noticed the tail that was hanging down my head.

“Our little dragon. He loves to ride on me. Aren't I right?” I asked and did shake my head slightly, which caused the child to glee again.

“How was your first hunt?” I asked them.

“Strangely exciting, the kill itself was a bit awkward though. I'll need a little time to get over it.” Arnold said, while Sarah was nodding.

“Stef seemed to have fun too.” Sarah laughed, causing Stef to look up irritated. This caused Arnold and me to laugh to.

“What? Why are you laughing?” He asked, while a piece of meat was hanging down his muzzle without him noticing.

“Nothing in particular Stef.” Arnold said, while pointing on his muzzle.

Stef didn't get what Arnold was pointing at, until he realized what was wrong.
“Haha, very funny. I'll remember that and you'll get that back, if you get carried away by something.” He huffed, causing us to laugh even more.

The golden dragoness had returned, while we were talking and had pulled her prey with her.
She too looked rather irritated, because of the laughter from us and the huff of Stef.

“Thanks again, that you watched after my son. Rob, wasn't it?” She said, while I lowered my head so the whelp could jump down.

“My pleasure, he simply likes it up there. I didn't get your name by the way.” I replied.

“Oh my, where are my manners. I'm Katherine and my little boy here is Peter.” She said blushing.

“Nice to meet you two. You know Stef, Sarah and Arnold?” I said, while pointing on the other three.

“Hello Katherine and hello Peter.” All three said and continued to eat the remaining meat of their prey, while Katherine and Peter began to eat on their own meal.

I watched them eat and hunt, until I noticed a group of humans on the ridge. A closer view via magic showed that two of them were Zoe and Jack, though I didn't know the other person. I walked away from the eating dragons, not wanting to disturb them and took off. It was only a short way and I saw that the humans were rather frightened, being approached by a huge black dragon.

“Greetings Zoe and Jack. I see you brought visitors. Didn't I ask you to keep it a secret?” I said a bit angrily.

“Yes we know. But this island is to small to hide two dozen of dragons, so we told it to our mayor.” Zoe explained, “Besides it would be difficult to explain why so many cattle is shipped to this island.”

“I see your point about that. So you are the mayor of this beautiful island?” I replied.

“Yes, I'm the mayor.” Said the man, who was behind his best ages, ”Name is Samuel Prayas and I must say, at first I thought that Zoe would try to pull a prank on me. Now I must say I'm honoured to meet you and your friends.”

“My name is Rob, nice to meet you. They told you about my story?” I asked curiously.

“They gave me a short summary, can't believe that you were a human before and that you are about 2600 years old.” He said.

“2628 years to be exact and yes we all were humans before. Most are still trying to adapt and it took a while to teach them how hunt for themselves.” I explained.

“You trained them how to hunt?” The Mayor gasped, “Like animals?”

“We are no mere animals.” I growled, “It's the nature of us to catch our food by ourself, if we can. The only difference to humans is that we skip the processing part in the butchery. Don't think that we're animals, our race exists longer on this planet than yours.”

“It shouldn't sound offensive, you only took me by surprise.” He backed out and changed the topic, “Zoe said, that you need help with food and that we should keep your existence a secret?”

“Yes. Every dragon needs a cow per day and the supplies are not big enough until we are ready, so we need someone who can buy it for us. And for the secret, I don't think that we can keep it when they begin to fly. Would be a good idea to open a hotel or something similar. I bet that you'll get a good amount of tourists in the next time.” I answered.

“How long will you stay and how do you want to pay for the cattle?” He asked.

“As long as we need. They have to find their names first and then we'll move on. I have the money. Not here, but I have it and I'll pay for everything.” I replied, “Could take a while though, my deposit is a good distance away.”

“We have a bank here, wouldn't that help?” Zoe asked.

“No, my money isn't on a bank. I have to bring it here and that could take a while.” I answered, while I noticed that almost all dragons had succeeded in hunting cattle. “If you like we could make a contract, so you feel safer about that. We need about twenty one cattle per day, depending if they manage to find their names in some time.”

“Why that? Doesn't some one like you need even more food?” The mayor asked irritated.

“If we disguise ourself, we only need the amount which disguise would need.” I explained, “I could live from grass, if I wanted to. Zoe and Jack can explain it to you, at least the basics. For now I must head back, most of them are eager to fly and it's a bad idea to stall dragons for too long.”

With that I jumped down the ridge and glided down to the dragons, deciding to land in the water of the nearby lake. I walked close enough to the shore so that my head would be lying out of the water, while the rest stayed beneath it and laid down. It's a habit I took on after a while, simply because it felt good and was relaxing. I waited there, until all dragons were finished with their meal and had cleaned their scales from the blood. Stef, Arnold, Sarah joined a few moments later and a few other dragons after a short time.

“Already trying to relax?” Arnold asked, “Are we that difficult to teach?”

“No. You're not difficult to train, walking and hunting works just fine. Next thing would be flying, if you like. After that you can do what you want, until you find your name.” I replied.

“You want us to fly? Can we do that already?” Sarah asked excited.

“You have wings, haven't you? I'll explain everything you need and after that you can try it.” I said, getting the attention of all dragons.

“Lets start with your wings.” I began to explain how they had to use their wings, body and tail to control their flight, how to find thermal lifts and how to conserve energy while flying.

“And that is all you need to know. You'll figure the rest out, while flying. Now there are two ways of teaching you how to fly. To quote my teacher, there is the slow and safe way on the one hand and  the thrilling way on the other hand. Who wants to start and how do you like it?” I said smiling, finishing my explanation about the basics.

“I'll try.” Said the silver dragoness, who had a smile on her face as she looked towards the other silver dragon, “And I'll take the 'thrilling way'.”

“So be it. Don't panic, simply do what I told you and you'll be fine. Ready?” I said grinning.

“Yes, I'm ready.” She said, “So how does the thrilling way begin?”

“Like this.” I said, while concentrating, “Wiap, ghergo ir.”

This caused the dragoness to shot up into the air with a yell of surprise, followed by silent laughter and gasps by the remaining dragons. All of them looked upward until the dragoness vanished behind a cloud. It took only seconds until she was back in sight and opened her wings. You could hear her excitement, roaring as loud as she could. We continued to watch her a few moments, while she flew above us in.

“Who's next?” I asked in the round, which was answered by all dragons at once, “Who wants the thrilling way and who wants to make it nice and slow? Those who want to do it the slow way, please step back, I'll show it to you in a few minutes. All others step forwards.”

Almost all dragons stepped forward, only four including Katherine and Peter stepped backwards.
It only took five minutes to throw every one into the air and left me with the four who had chosen the slow way. I came out of the water and joint the remaining dragons to explain, how they could take of without help.

“So. Lets take the scenic route shall we? Takes a bit more work, because you must climb all the way up there, but I think that shouldn't be the problem. Basically it's really simple and we'll do it step by step.” I said, while opening my wings, “First, we use our wings and legs to push us off the ground. Try it. Simply jump and flap you wings as strong as you can.”

The four tried it and all of them were taken by surprise as they jumped several meters in the air and landed again. All of them looked amazed and I could see that they were eager to continue

“The next step is to repeat the flapping, until you join the other. As for the landing, the best would be to fly near the ground and slow down until you fall on the ground. Doesn't look that good, but it works.” I explained.

“How do you land? It looks so easy, if you do it.” Katherine asked, flexing her wings.

“Depends how fast I am. You can hover over the ground and slowly descend, but I don't think that your flight muscles are strong enough for that yet. The other way would be to land like planes, drop on your hind legs first and take the momentum with you. Takes practice but we have the time, don't we?” I said with a laugh.

“True. Can we fly now?” Asked the blue dragon in excitement.

“Go on, I'll stay behind you and make sure no one gets hurt.” I replied, while the four opened their wings.

With that they took of and began to climb. Peter felt behind after a short time, but I used a bit of magic to push him back to his mother and supported him the whole flight. Flying in a big crowd was new for me, being alone the whole time before and I had a blast. The air was filled with roars and laughter. Everyone had a great time. We stayed up there for a long time only flying without destination, until a few dragons began to chase each other. There we were, dragons who played tag in mid air. I laughed as I thought about the sore muscles they would have tomorrow and the whining that would follow, but I let them have their fun.

We stayed up there for hours until I noticed that the wind was changing and dark clouds were rising at the horizon. I roared as loud as I could to get the attention of the other and pointed towards the clouds and then to the ground. Being stuck in a storm over the sea is very dangerous, I broke my wing the last time I was caught in one and that taught me to be careful about these. And this one looked rather bad too. The wind was already getting stronger as we descended and the colour of the clouds began to equal those of my scales. I mentioned the dragons to land in the lakes, not wanting to remain in the air longer as necessary and I was right to do so. The sun was blocked by the black clouds the very moment we landed and the wind got really strong. The rain too started only seconds later, causing most of the dragons to search for shelter.

Luckily a few of the caves were still there and all dragons got in them. I went to my old cave, followed by Sarah, Katherine, Peter and Stef. The cave was still intact and like I left it, even my scratches on the wall were still there. I shrank back to the height of the others, while entering it.

“Ah home sweet home.” I said, while walking in the cave.

“Was that your cave when you lived here?” Stef asked, “It's a very dark place”

“Yes, it was my cave and my first hoard. My friend left his treasures behind and I kept them, wasn't much though.” I replied, “And dark doesn't matter, we dragons see as good in the dark as over the day. The only downside is that we lose our colour sight.”

“Your hoard? You have a hoard, like the dragons of the stories?” Peter asked.

“Yes I have one, full of treasures of the 2600 years I have waited. The oldest piece is a few million years old, belonging to the old dragon race.” I explained as my vision changed and I heard gasps behind me.

“A few million years? You said your teacher was a dragon of the old race, was he that old?” Sarah asked.

“His ghost was. Though his body was bound to this island, so it wouldn't age that much.” I said, while arriving at the back of the cave, “I'm still teasing him for his age though.”

“You still talk to him? I thought he is dead?” Stef asked.

“I never said he was dead, only ascended.” I laughed, “If I wanted to talk to someone of earth, I wouldn't have meditate that strong.”

“Rob, I have another question. What did you say, as you shot that dragoness up in the air?” Katherine asked.

“Wiap, ghergo ir?” I asked.

“Yes exactly. What language is that? If never heard anything like that.” She asked.

“It's draconic. The language of us dragons. My teacher imprinted it into me, so I never had to learn it. Was kind of strange to speak in a language you never heard of before.” I explained, “I have to speak to him about that next time. And Katherine. Next time you fly with Peter, stay with him. He isn't as fast as you and you flew away from him. You are his mother, you keep an eye on him and keep him safe.”

“But he was next to me, all the time.” She answered confused.

“Because I supported him. You and the others have more developed bodies, while Peter has one of a whelp. It's natural that he isn't as fast as you at the moment. Next time stick with him. I do know how easy it is to loose yourself in flying.” I explained, “But enough for now, I said it to you and now you know it.”

“For now lets.” I began, while I noticed a disturbance of magic in front of me. It was small at first, but became bigger by the second. It did only last for a short time but I could see a dragon eye in the middle, until it and the disturbance vanished again. 'That must be the spell, they wanted to try. Seems that the basics work.' I thought, until I remembered that I was in the middle of a sentence

“Rob?” Sarah asked.

“Oh nothing, there was an interesting pattern in the magic around us. Always get distracted by those.” I replied, wanting to keep it as secret, until they would arrive, “As I was about to say, lets sleep for now and hope that the storm doesn't stay that long.”

With that I laid down at my used place, remembering the last time I slept here. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, dreaming of the same field I was as I arrived on this island 2600 years ago. Though the field wasn't empty this time, Aak was standing near me and waving towards me.

“Vokun, how are you?” He asked happily.

“Fine, thanks. How comes it that you are in my dream Aak?” I replied curiously.

“I tried a different approach of the spell, the elder want to use to talk with the new race. Seems like it does work and better as expected.” He explained, “Did the other spell work? The elder are curious about it, but have to wait until you arrive next time.”

“I saw an eye in the middle of a disturbance. The basics seem to work so far, but the matrix needs to be polished if you want to project a stable picture. And they need to add an addition, so non magic user can see it. They don't have their name yet and therefore can't see anything on the magical plane.” I answered thoughtfully.

“Good, I'll tell them what you said about it. How are the new dragons? Still whining about the food?” He laughed.

“I got them to hunt for themselves and they had their first flight today. Could be fun to watch later. They overused their muscles, like I did on my first flight.” I chuckled.

“I know what you mean. You had trouble to even rise your wings the next day.” Aak laughed.

“With the only difference that I was your only student. Now I have twenty and I bet all of them will whine tomorrow.” I groaned.

“You'll do it and we'll continue to finish the spell. It was a good first test and now we know what to do. For now I'll let you rest and next time we'll speak in person.” Aak said.

“I'm looking forward to this Aak. And greet your father.” I replied, while Aak began to phase out, leaving me alone to continue my sleep.

The other dragons still slept as I woke up and I sneaked out as silent as I could, not wanting to wake them up. The storm was gone now and the sun was rising. I changed back to my normal size and flew up to the ridge to batch in the morning sun. I laid there for a time, as I noticed that a person was approaching from the village. I noticed that it was Jack as he came closer, holding a few papers in his hands. He had a worried look on his face, which he hide as he came closer to me.

“Good morning Jack, how is it. And what do you have for me.” I greeted him.

“Good morning Rob, fine thanks. I have the contract you wished and something other.” He said with a worried tone.

“And that would be?” I replied curiously.

“A print of a news side. It seems that you flight yesterday got caught on photo.” He said, while holding the print up so I could read it.

The title was 'Fake or Truth? Dragons over Corvo'. The remaining text was rather spongy written, apparently they hadn't any informations besides the picture and the statement of the person who had sent it. The picture wasn't bad, showing us all in close capture with me in the middle of the swarm.

“Looks like we'll get company shortly.” I said.

“You bet. The office of the mayor gets calls non stop, asking if it's true. There will be groups of scientists on the next plane, if I'm informed correctly.” Jack explained.

“How much time do we have? I have to inform the other dragons.” I asked.

“Not sure, the news were released yesterday evening. The first group should arrive around midday, if they started immediately. Should I try to stall them?” Jack replied.

“If you can. All the dragons should have sore wings, so we can't fly away for at least a day.” I said, worried about the next days and weeks, “If they push past you, tell them that we don't want to be disturbed and any one who comes to close, does it on his own risk.”

“I'll tell them. Here before we forget it, could you please look over the contract and sign it?” He asked.

“Sure, give me a moment.” I said, while changing in my human disguise.

I looked over the contract. It was rather simple, containing every information necessary and a price list for the cattle and the transport., I signed it, after reading it two times and making sure that I didn't miss anything and handed it back to Jack.

“Here you go. Please send Zoe, if the plane with the scientists arrives, so we get a warning.” I said to Jack.

“I'll. I hope they won't cause to much trouble.” Said Jack.

“Me too. Tell the mayor what I have said if they push past you.” I replied, as Jake made his way back.

I myself stayed up on the ridge until I saw movement down in the valley. The first dragons had awakened and made their way towards the lake. Their wings hung down on their sides, stiff and weak from the flight yesterday as I had bet with Aak last night. I glided down towards them as they arrived, snatching two cows with my front legs while gliding.

“Good morning, everyone.” I said, “Here eat the cows. It won't help immediately, but you'll feel better after that.”

“Thank you. Rob was it? Never got the change to thank you for all personally.” Said the silver dragoness, “My name is Jane by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Jane. Couldn't leave you in the hands of persons which destroyed your life, could I.” I said smiling, “Speaking of which. We'll get company the next days.”

“Why that?” Asked the copper dragon, “Name is Lee”

“Because we got caught on photo yesterday and it was posted on a news side in the internet.” I replied, sighing, “The first group of scientists or visitors should arrive around midday.”

“And we are grounded. Nice” said Jane, “What should we do now?”

“First we wait until everybody is up and had something to eat. Then we'll discuss how we should handle it.” I replied.

It didn't take that long until all dragons were up and had eaten something. The news spread very fast and you could hear a lot of talking. Most were not happy that they had to deal with scientists that early again. They were turned into dragons against their will the last time they met some.

“Everyone, silence. It doesn't help that everyone talks to everyone. We have do discuss what we should do.” I roared, “They'll arrive midday or evening. Any suggestions?”

“Perhaps we should flee, search for another hiding place?” Came from the blue dragoness.

“And how? My wings are sore and I bet I'm not the only one with that problem.” Said Arnold and got several nods as reply, “It wouldn't matter any ways if Rob is right. The moment we leave the valley, we would be the  centre of attention. I say we sit it out until our wings are strong enough to carry us again.”

“But that wouldn't solve the problem. They'll chase us if we flee and I don't want to run away the whole time.” Said Caroline, the bronze dragoness “We have to remember that we have a child with us and I won't risk any ones life for anything like that.”

“You have a point. If we run, they'll chase us. If we stay, they'll kill us with questions. Not to speak of the test they probably want to make.” Said Stef with an annoyed look.

“I say we sit it out. Worst thing they could do would be to rip our scales out and I think they'll do that only once.” Sarah said, with an evil smile, “Rob you said we could disguise ourself if we get our names.”

“Yes. But you can't until then. Cloaking wouldn't work either as they aren't stupid and twenty dragons are difficult to hide, even with magic.” I explained, “But I agree with Sarah. Let sit it out and hope you find your names in the next few days.”

“Couldn't you help us with that, you said that there was a faster way.” Tanja, the red dragoness, asked

“Yes but I can't risk your life. Besides I don't know how it works.” I replied, “It's no option.”

“Then we have to stick with the scientists until we find them.” Arnold concluded, “How should we act?”

“I beg you pardon?” I replied.

“How should we interact with the scientists? Support them or ignore them?” He asked.

“I would say that depends on you. I'll hunt and fly every time I want to. They can't hold us. One thing we have to watch is Peter” I looked at the whelp, “He is the weakest link and must be protected all the time.”

“You say we mind our own business and don't care for the scientists or other people?” Tanja asked.

“Exactly. They can't do anything as long as nobody gets hurt. Though I told Jack to warn the scientists about any wrong action.” I replied, “Furthermore don't tell them names. Our families could get in trouble if some smart ass connects our names to the ones who were on the flight. That means if you want to talk to someone do so, but don't use any names.”

“That's a pretty good idea. Any other suggestions anyone?” Arnold asked.

“What will we do if we all found our names?” Asked Florian, the green dragon.

“I'll tell you the basics of magic and after that I'll test you all. From then on you can do what you want.” I replied.

“And that would be in your case?” Sarah asked.

“I'll go back to my family. I waited two and a half millennia to return to them.” I said, “Nothing will stop me from returning to them.”

“Didn't you visit them in all this years?” She asked.

“How could I? My past self was still there and I had no connection to them. Would be strange if I visit them and claim that I'm their son.” I explained.

“Time travel sounds complicated, good I wasn't thrown back.” Said Tanja.

“So does everyone agree that we stay here until everyone has his name and that we protect Peter until then. And that we don't say our names so we can protect our families.” Arnold concluded.

“Yes, I do” Was said several times and all dragons nodded.

“Good, we'll do it that way. Now what do we do until they arrive? Rob?” Arnold asked.

“You know the things you need to know except magic, so do whatever you like.” I replied, “For me? I'll go swimming in the ocean until they arrive. I want to know if the riff is still intact after all that time.”

With that I took off and flew northwards over the ridge. The weather was nice after the storm. Cold fresh air and almost no clouds in sight. Ideal for a nice and long dive in the sea. I flew close over the ocean as I was far enough away from the island and I plunged into the ocean after waiting for a few seconds.