Chapter 3: Answers

Aeris flew happily through the skies. Her grounding was finally over and she was free to roam the estate grounds however she pleased.

Out of all the things she enjoyed, flying was definitely her favorite. The air blowing over her scales, the fantastic views from above, and the unrestricted speed all left an indescribable feeling of pleasure.

She beat her wings, soaring higher and higher into the air. Just as she reached the clouds, she folded her wings, enjoying the brief weightlessness she felt just before plummeting towards the ground. The dragon twisted and turned in the air, all the while never taking her eyes off the ground rushing to meet her. She opened her wings at the last moment, relishing in the feel of the grass brushing against her claws as she pulled out of her steep dive mere inches above the ground. The dragon beat her wings gaining altitude once more, flying one final lap around the estate before gently landing in the yard.

Aeris looked up at the sky, breathing heavily, the adrenaline still pumping through her veins. Flying was truly the best way to relieve stress and forget her troubles. It had been a few weeks since her outburst with Maggie. Ever since then, Maggie had kept true to her promise to help Aeris find some answers about her origins. At least once a week she brought in books from the library in the city and the two spent all day reading through them for information about dragons.

The books contained surprisingly little about dragons. According to Maggie, all the books were based on theories or biased assumptions. It would seem that dragons didn’t like sharing their histories with humans or humans were too afraid of dragons to ask. Maggie said it was a little bit of both.

The search wasn’t a complete loss, however. Aeris learned a great deal about how many different dragon species existed as well as some of their physical characteristics. Sadly, none of the species she read about matched her description.

Aeris was not like other dragons. For one, no other dragon possessed her unique celeste-colored scales, and then there was the fact she couldn’t breathe fire like other dragons.

It came as quite a shock when it was first discovered. Aeris had just entered her adolescence, the stage when a dragon’s wings began to strengthen and their ability to breathe fire developed. Master Aaron bragged constantly about how cool it would be when the two were flying through the air shooting fireballs into the clouds. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t expel any flames.

One day, Aeris noticed Master Aaron being attacked by a group of boys. Enraged, she opened her mouth and fired two large chunks of ice at the group, knocking the boys unconscious. Unfortunately, she later learned the boys were simply playing a game, and her master was never in any real danger. Thankfully, Master Aaron’s parents were too surprised by Aeris’ ice breath to scold her properly for the incident, and the boys she knocked out had no memory of what happened.

While she enjoyed that uniqueness, it could also be depressing at times. She was sworn to secrecy regarding her ice abilities, and she had to put up with strange stares and whispers when asked about her origins. All she knew was what Master Aaron had told her. His parents found her as an egg on the streets or rescued her when she was still an egg from dragon hunters, she didn’t know anymore. All she knew was there was no way of tracking her parents, and none of her other traits were shared by another dragon.

Despite their lack of success, Maggie refused to give up. Every day she reminded Aeris why it was necessary to never lose hope, but the dragon noticed it seemed Maggie was trying more to convince herself.

With the adrenaline wearing off, Aeris began to feel a wave of melancholy wash over her. She silently scolded herself for ruining the end of such a great flying session with her depressing thoughts. She bent her legs and spread her wings, ready to take off into the skies again.

A voice suddenly called out to her, “Aeris, wait.” Aeris looked back, seeing Maggie running towards her. The dragon sighed when she saw the book in the woman’s arms. She loved Maggie for wanting to help her, but failing day after day was starting to get to her.

“I think I found something that could help us.” Maggie opened the book and began rapidly flipping through its pages. “Do you remember when we looked at the yellowtails, the Relgen short-snouts, and silver horntails?”

Aeris nodded slowly. Those were the dragon species with which she shared a few characteristics, but not enough to say she was one of them.

Maggie stopped flipping through the pages and held the book up to Aeris. She looked at the pages confused. She only saw the species Maggie was just talking about. “What am I looking at?”

“All of these dragons share certain features and they all have one thing in common: they all can be found in the North,” said Maggie happily. When Aeris didn’t respond, she continued, “You see, Aeris? If you share these features with them, then you must be from the North as well. I know it isn’t what you wanted, but we have an idea of where to look. Now we can just focus on species that originated in the northern regions. We could possibly be one step closer to finding out who you really are. Isn’t that great?”

“It is good news, but Maggie wouldn’t it be easier to simply ask a dragon?”

“Aeris, that’s not a good idea,” Maggie said, frowning.

“Well, why not? The dragons have to know something. I’m sure there are some in the city who can—”

“Absolutely not!”

Aeris flinched at Maggie’s sudden outburst. It wasn’t like Maggie to suddenly raise her voice like that. After all, Maggie was the one who was always pushing her to keep searching for her origins. Why wouldn’t Maggie want her to use a potential source?

“Uh-oh, this seems like a tense situation. What’s going on here?” The two turned and saw Master Aaron approaching them. “Are you two all right?”

            The two females stood in place for several minutes saying nothing. Aeris wasn’t sure what to say; she hadn’t told Master Aaron about the search. Maggie warned her he wouldn’t like it if he found out although she refused to say why. Though Aeris agreed to keep it a secret, she didn’t like lying to her master; it always made her feel dirty.

“I was just reading Aeris a story, sir,” Maggie said, a large smile across her face. She quickly closed the book and hid it behind her back. “We were arguing because Aeris thought it would be fun to try flying blindfolded like they do in the story.”

Aaron laughed while patting the top of Aeris’ head. “You know I would pay to see that. It sounds like a neat trick.”

“Lord Strauss, please do not give her ideas,” Maggie pleaded. “I just convinced her it would be a bad idea.”

Aeris was too surprised by how natural Maggie sounded lying to comment.

“Don’t worry I won’t. Aeris, I’m going into the city to pick up a few things, would you like to join me?”

Aeris could barely contain her excitement. “I would love to.”

Except for the few events Master Aaron attended, Aeris was rarely ever allowed to go beyond the estate grounds. Whenever they attended an event in the city, Aeris never got an opportunity to take in her surroundings; they always went straight to their destination then straight home. She always wanted to go to the city and meet other dragons. Now not only was she going, but she may also be able to ask some of the dragons there about some of the northern dragon clans.

“Lord Strauss, me and Aeris are still in the middle of—”

“The story isn’t going anywhere, Margret. You can finish reading it when she returns. In the meantime, could you go to the kitchens and help Olivia prepare dinner? Aeris, I would like you to come with me please.”

Aeris followed closely behind Master Aaron as he walked towards her room.

Once inside, Aeris bounded over to the dresser against the wall. Her mind was flooding with ideas of all the things she could wear. “Master, what should I wear? I’m thinking maybe the vest you bought for me last year. I haven’t had many chances to wear it.”

“I think you’ll look beautiful no matter what you’re wearing,” Aaron replied, gently placing a hand on Aeris’ back.

“Thank you, Master. That’s very ni—” Aeris froze mid-sentence as Aaron began sliding his hand down her back, pausing at the base of her tail. Her heartbeat began to increase. “Master Aaron?”

“You know, I missed you today,” said Aaron sweetly as he stroked her tail, “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Aeris slowly pulled away from him, “I’m flattered you were thinking of me, but I need your help picking out something to wear,” she said nervously. Her heart began beating faster as she realized the real reason for bringing her here—alone.

Aaron followed her, calmly stroking the side of her neck. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll get Margret to pick something out for you.” He knelt and began caressing Aeris’s face with one hand while unbuttoning his shirt with the other.

Aeris swallowed thickly. Her tail instinctively flattened against her rear. “M-Master, we’re going to be late. We should b-be going soon.”

“Aeris, we have plenty of time,” Aaron replied coolly, eyeing Aeris’ body hungrily. “Besides if we can’t go today there is always tomorrow.”

Aeris didn’t want to go tomorrow, she wanted to leave today, preferably right now. But what would Master Aaron think if she said those things?

Master Aaron stopped, the hunger in his eyes replaced with worry. “Aeris, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

Aeris couldn’t say it. She couldn’t bring herself to say how she felt; how she didn’t like Master Aaron touching her that way, how she wished there was another way for the two to show their love for another. But he was her master. He never forced her to do anything she didn’t want to do, but he took care of her, fed her, and gave her a place to sleep. Surely she was required to do something to show her appreciation.

Aeris took several deep breaths, but her heart showed no signs of slowing down. If she did say no, would he be angry with her? What if he left her behind because of it? This could be the only opportunity she had to talk with another dragon and learn more about herself; she couldn’t let it slip by. The only time she saw other dragons was in passing on her way to a human gathering. Even at the parties she attended she was always the only dragon there.

Aeris slowly approached her master.  She closed her eyes tightly and turned around lifting her tail into the air, bracing herself for what was to come. “No, Master. Everything is fine.”

Aeris dug her claws into the dirt floor, trying desperately to ignore the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach and the pain flaring in her groin every time his hips joined with hers. She tried unsuccessfully to ignore the disgusting sounds echoing throughout the room. She buried her face in the dirt, hoping to clog her nostrils and keep from smelling her master’s nauseating musk. Aaron leaned over her telling her how much he could feel her love for him. Aeris didn’t respond; she was mentally counting the seconds, waiting for it all to be over.

She silently cursed herself. Every time he ran his hands over her body, her scales crawled. Her master was telling her how much he loved her and enjoyed expressing it, but all she wanted to do think about how much of a relief it would be when he stopped. Finally, Master Aaron began moaning loudly and collapsed on her back, breathing heavily. Despite how large he was, he wasn’t heavy. She did her best to fight the sudden urge to throw her master on the floor.

“You were amazing,” Master Aaron wheezed.

She was surprised by the low growl she heard in her voice as she replied, “Thank you, Master.”

They lay like that for several minutes. Her master on her back, rubbing her side, and Aeris fighting the urge to vomit.

Master Aaron stood up and began putting his clothes back on. Without even looking back, he began walking back towards the door. “Okay, Aeris, it looks as if we have plenty of time to go shopping.” He looked back, a wide grin on his face. “You’re still coming right?”

“Of course, Master.” Aeris craned her neck to lick herself clean. She grimaced at the bitter taste of her master’s fluids. She would have preferred a nice hot scrub, but she doubted Master Aaron would wait for her to get cleaned up. 

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Regardless of what Maggie said, Aeris was determined not to let it slip by. If Maggie wasn’t going to take a chance on asking another dragon, then she would.

****

Aeris patiently sat outside the shop awaiting her master’s return. Through the large display window, she could easily see him talking to another human. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but judging by the smiles on their faces, it was a pleasant conversation. Her master turned to the window and waved at her; Aeris smiled back, but her smile quickly fell when he looked away.

She felt dirty. It was as if a bucket of filth had been dumped on her, and she couldn’t get it off. Part of her still regretted not telling him the truth. It hadn’t been the first time her master “showed his appreciation” and every time Aeris gave in. Why couldn’t she just come out and say it? Every time he touched her she felt…defiled. 

Looking at him through the window, Aeris felt nothing but contempt for him. Part of her wanted to storm into the shop and slap that stupid grin right off his face. The dragon firmly shook her head. What was she thinking secretly hating the man who took care of her? He gave her everything she wanted, sometimes without her asking for it. Surely it was her job to repay the favor. So on days when he would visit her and ask for a distraction from a stressful workday, shouldn’t she oblige?

Aeris pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind. It was her first trip to the city; she shouldn’t waste it focusing on these things now.

She was definitely in a part of the city she and never seen before; Master Aaron had explained this was a commercial district where people came to shop.  The area was far larger than she expected. There were so many buildings of different sizes, shapes, and colors. And each shop sold something different from the one before it. Although she wasn’t allowed inside, Aeris was still fascinated by the things she could see through the display windows of the various stores surrounding her.

The smells were something else. The parties she attended were always filled with the sweet scents of the various entrees and desserts as well as the stench of the perfumes and colognes everyone wore. The smell of this place was entirely different. There were so many different smells all mingling together at once; Aeris had a hard time discerning one scent from another.

Aeris watched as various people walked by, nearly every person that walked by stared at her and the ones who didn’t whisper amongst themselves. She shifted uncomfortably where she stood. She was used to being the center of attention but something about the way some of the people looked at her made her uncomfortable.

All the time she sat there, she still hadn’t come across any dragons. Maybe they lived in a different part of the city. She began to fear that today was a waste after all.

Perhaps she could find a way to convince Master Aaron to take her to where the dragons lived without him getting suspicious.

“Hey be careful with those you damn lizard!”

Aeris looked back across the street and saw a large green dragon standing next to a human. Both of them were arguing in front of a broken crate on the ground. Aeris recognized the species immediately; it was a Green Crested Genial, a dragon named for its friendly disposition.

Finally another dragon! she thought as she hurried across the street. Her mind was already swimming with questions. As she got closer she could make out more of what the human and dragon were saying to each other.

“I told you to be careful. Do you have any idea how much this stuff costs?”

“I was careful. You bumped into me.”

“I didn’t bump into you, besides even if I did, look how big you are. There is no way I knocked you off balance.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just go and get something to clean this up. I’m not having the owner dock my pay again because you’re clumsy.”

The human mumbled something under his breath before entering a nearby building.

Aeris hesitated. Perhaps it was a bad time. The dragon appeared irritated after the conversation with the human. He may not want to be bothered. She looked back across the street. Her master would be back any minute, and there was no way of knowing when she would have another chance to speak to a dragon alone.

She mustered up her courage and quickly approached the dragon, “Um, excuse me?”

The dragon looked around confused before finally noticing Aeris. She noticed one of the dragon’s horns was broken and he had a deep scar over his left eye. Looking into his yellow eyes, Aeris felt fear. This dragon wasn’t looking at her as if she were a fellow dragon; he glared as if the sight of her disgusted him. The Genial stood up to his full height, easily casting a shadow over the young dragon.

“What?” the dragon spat.

Aeris did her best to ignore the dragon’s rudeness, “Hello. I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Aeris, and I wanted—” She stopped mid-sentence as it occurred to her that she had no idea how to phrase the question nor the best means of approaching the subject. She couldn’t ask outright; it would seem rude or he might think her insane.

The dragon started sniffing the air, ignoring Aeris completely. Before Aeris could ask what he was doing, the Genial suddenly began sniffing her. She quickly took a step back. “What are you—”  Her words were cut short when the look on the dragon’s face had changed from annoyance to outright disgust.

“Go away, pet,” the dragon said the final word with so much venom, Aeris flinched.

“Actually, my name is—”

“I don’t fuckin’ care,” the dragon said. “I don’t like pets. Go back to your human master.” The dragon turned went back to the pile of goods on the ground.

Aeris frowned at the dragon. “What’s wrong with my scent? You smell a little like a human yourself.”

The dragon turned around slowly, his voice teeming with rage. “What did you say to me?”

She looked around hoping someone would intervene.  A few passersby glanced in their direction but otherwise ignored them. She looked at the people, shocked.  Did no one even care? Regardless of how anyone else felt, she needed to calm the dragon down. “I’m sorry if I offended you,” Aeris said quickly, “Should I just wait until your master—”

At soon as she said the word “master”, the Genial’s eyes showed a fury Aeris had never seen before. The dragon rushed forward and clamped his jaws around Aeris’ throat. Fear seized her as she felt pain in her neck. What should she do? Was he going to kill her? Should she cry for help? Would calling for help even make a difference?

Suddenly she felt weightless. The whole world seemed to spin before her, making it impossible to tell which way was up, down, or in-between. She felt a sharp pain on one half of her body, knocking the air out her as the spinning stopped. It was only then Aeris realized she had been thrown into a wall.

The Green Crested Genial stood over her, his yellow eyes burning with intense hatred, “You dare treat me as if I’m one you?! You pets need to learn your place!”

Aeris lay on the ground, paralyzed with fear, wetness spreading around her hind legs. Her mind raced with ways to get out of the current situation.

But nothing came to mind. Of all the books she read, not one told her how to deal with an angry dragon. All she could do was cower as the reality of the situation sank in.

This dragon was going to kill her and there was nothing she could do stop him.

“I think she gets it,” came Master Aaron’s voice from somewhere behind the dragon.

Aeris would have leaped for joy at the sound of her master’s voice if she weren’t so terrified.

The Genial standing over her craned his neck to look back at Aaron. “Is this thing yours?”

“Yes, she is. And I would prefer if you didn’t refer to Aeris as a ‘thing.’ She has a name just like you.” Master Aaron looked past the Genial to Aeris who still cowered on the ground. “Aeris, are you all right? He didn’t hurt you did he?”

Aeris opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She couldn’t tell if it was due to her extreme fear or the sharp pain in her neck. All she knew was she never felt so happy to see her master in all her life. Unable to speak, she settled for shaking her head.

The Genial shot a nasty look back at Aeris before turning on Master Aaron. “So what if I did? Any other time you humans couldn’t care less about us. You only seem to care when one of your precious toys is about to be broken.”

“She’s not a toy,” Master Aaron said, his anger clear in his voice and posture. “I’m sure that whatever she’s done to offend you, she is very sorry and it won’t happen again.”

The Genial snarled at Aaron causing the man to take a step back. Aaron, still keeping a steely gaze on the dragon, reached one hand behind his back. Aeris knew her master carried a pistol with him at all times, but she doubted a small firearm would do much against a dragon that size.

“No, she’s not sorry,” the Genial said. There was a hint of pleasure in his voice that made Aeris’ skin crawl. “Not yet. But she will be.”

“If you lay so much as a single claw on her—”

“You’ll do what?” the Genial snarled, stepping toward Aaron.

For a brief moment, all of Aeris’s fear vanished and replaced with rage. She was the one the dragon was angry with, she was the one who disobeyed orders; Master Aaron was simply trying to protect her. He was trying to defend her because she messed up. This was the man who raised her, cared for her, and protected her. She would be damned if she was going to stand by and watch as someone tried to harm the man she cared for.

Before she realized it, Aeris was already climbing to her feet. “I won’t let you hurt my master!”

The Genial turned on her almost immediately. He snarled so ferociously, she fell back on the ground. Her tail wrapped defensively around her body. All the anger and courage she felt before was gone, lost within the fury of the dragon before her. No. It wasn’t a dragon that stood before her, it was a monster.

“That’s quite enough,” said another voice Aeris didn’t recognize.

Aeris lifted her head in the direction of the voice. It came from another dragon she recognized as a Highwind Ravager; large, dragons known for their red scales and violent tempers. This one had a more feminine voice but still carried a deep growl. She was far larger than Aeris, able to look Master Aaron in the eye and possibly carry a human on her back. Aeris wasn’t sure if it was her elation at being saved, but she felt enthralled by the Ravager’s blood-red scales glittering in the sun.

The Genial turned to face the interloper, “You takin’ pity on this pet?”

The Ravager’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Are you questioning me?”

The Genial flinched as if she had slapped him.  He submissively bowed before the female Ravager. “My apologies. Please excuse me, Matriarch. I wasn’t questioning you, I just…it’s nothing.”

“Well then, if you’re done embarrassing your kind, I suggest you go about your business before you do something else stupid, and I have to kill you in front of all these people.”

The Genial flinched at the Ravager’s threat but kept his eyes glued to the ground and said nothing. Finally, he threw one final nasty glare in Aeris’ direction before going inside the nearby store.

Aeris tilted her head in confusion. She was certain the Genial was ready to kill her, yet he stopped simply because this other dragon appeared. She was certain that nothing could quell the dragon’s rage, but he wouldn’t even so much as raise his voice at the Ravager.

The Ravager walked over to Aeris. “Are you alright?”

“I think so,” Aeris croaked as she struggled to stand. Her throat was sore from the earlier attack.

Master Aaron rushed to Aeris’s side. “Aeris, what happened? Are you hurt?” Aeris flinched when Aaron touched her neck. She looked down at his hand noticed small droplets of blood on his fingers. Aaron clenched his fist.

“You should really be more careful,” the Ravager said. “Most clan-borns don’t even like to look at domesticates let alone talk to one.”

Aeris looked at the dragon confused, “Domesticate? What is that?”

The Ravager frowned at her question. “It’s the name we have for dragons raised by humans. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

“But how do you know I was raised by humans?”

“Well for starters, you smell like one, which is probably what set him off,” the Ravager leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper, “I don’t mean to be blunt, but if you’re going to have sex with your caretaker, you should at least wash the smell off before going around other dragons. They don’t like you following around a human anyway. You’re more than likely to send them into a rage if the learn you copulate with them.”

“I don’t know who you are, but thank you,” Master Aaron said, rising to his feet and bowed deeply before the Ravager. Aeris sighed, relieved that he was changing the subject.

“You don’t need to thank me,” the Ravager said. She seemed to be speaking more to Aeris than Aaron, “I simply don’t like dragons who act like mindless brutes. Domesticate or not, he had no right to react the way he did. It is our duty to teach domesticates the ways of our kind, not tear them open in the streets.”

Aaron frowned at the Ravager. “Wait. Are you saying—”

“Listen, if you ever wish to learn more about your own kind, look up the Patel family and come visit,” the Ravager interrupted, ignoring Aaron completely. Without waiting for a response, the Ravager turned and disappeared into the crowd.

 “Well, that was certainly rude,” Master Aaron said. He motioned for Aeris to follow him. “Come on Aeris. We need to get that wound looked at. Then I think that’ll be all for today.”

Aeris followed closely behind her master keeping her gaze on the ground. She could feel the eyes of the people they passed staring her. Their whispers of what they had witnessed. Aeris wanted to find the deepest, darkest hole, curl up in it, and never come out again. For the first time in her life, she hated her unique appearance. She wanted to look like any other dragon, so she could disappear into the crowd and be forgotten.