The trees had lost their leaves, all except for the occasional dark, lanky pine that swayed in the chilling wind. The sky was clear but the air carried a constant, frosty feel to it, which the winter sun did little to warm.
“River, this is Sky,” Lichen told Theo at Camp. Beside Lichen stood a light blue and white dragon that smiled at Theo. Easily taller than Theo, she had a graceful, long neck and tail to match. Her excellent pair of wings, she kept neatly folded against her body.
Suddenly, Theo remembered her.
“I saw you catching fish at the falls!” she exclaimed. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you,” Sky replied in a friendly way.
Theo looked at the two young dragons that followed her. “You have two pupils?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes, I accepted them both just the other day,” Sky answered and then laughed. “But I once mentored four!”
“Really? All at once?” Theo shook her head, imagining the difficulty. “I could never handle that…”
“Could you mentor one?” Sky questioned Theo.
“Why?!” Theo was alarmed, thinking that Sky was offering her one of hers. Can she even do that? Theo worried.
Sky looked past Theo’s shoulder. “Because someone looks interested in you,” she revealed and Theo looked.
A light yellow dragon of pupil age stood behind her, gazing with curiosity. Theo turned around to face it. The dragon was very small, head tilted upward to see Theo with a patient but expectant look on her face.
“Yes…” Sky murmured, smiling next to Theo. “She’s interested in you alright. Oh, look at her, how darling…”
Theo stood in place, scared stiff but without understanding why. The little dragon just waited with large eyes watching her.
“You take her!” Theo told Sky suddenly, turning away.
“What? River, she doesn’t want me. She wants you.”
“I can’t take her.”
Sky was quiet for a moment until she sighed, “Well, you don’t have to…”
“Yeah,” Lichen piped up, listening in on their conversation. “But it might be hard for you to shake her off.”
“I have no other choice,” Theo determined, stepping forward and crouching down to the young one’s height. “You’ll have to find someone else to be your mentor,” Theo whispered. “I know just as little as you do about how to be a dragon.” Theo couldn’t think of anything else to say, and so she got up and turned back to her friends.
“It’s not that easy!” Lichen laughed. “I know a dragon that once had to run from a potential pupil for weeks!”
Sky smiled, nodding. “They’re persistent,” she agreed, beaming down at her two pupils. “I just can’t say no to them.”
Theo checked behind her nervously. She was relieved to see the little, yellow dragon stumbling off to somewhere else.
“Hey, maybe that did work out for you,” Lichen said, also seeing the young dragon on the go.
Sky purred in sympathy over it. “Look at how clumsy she is, poor dear.”
“How long does a dragon mentor a pupil?” Theo asked.
“From the beginning of winter to the end of the next,” Sky said. “That gives them five seasons to learn all that they can.”
Over a year. Theo prayed silently that the yellow dragon would stay away and find someone else for a mentor. “How do other dragons shake off pupils wanting to be mentored?” she asked, wanting to have other tactics in mind.
Sky shifted uncomfortably. “Well, some run, some hide…and then there’s the rogue dragons’ way…”
Lichen lowered his head. “A lot of rogues don’t want to mentor anyone,” he grieved. “If a pupil doesn’t go away at first warning, it can get ugly.”
“You don’t mean they…kill them, do you?!” Theo balked.
“Sometimes.” Sky nodded grimly.
Theo was shocked by the wickedness of the rogues. They almost fit the description that the humans painted for all dragons in legends and myths.
Who could kill an innocent little creature like that? Theo mulled, watching the yellow dragon scrabble into a hollow tree trunk a ways away.
Then she saw Wolfe.
Wolfe! What is she doing here?!
“Sky! Lichen!” she whispered sharply. “That grey dragon over there, I’ve seen her before. Her name’s Wolfe- she’s a rogue!”
“What?” Lichen’s head flashed towards Wolfe where she lay, looking harmless as ever, watching as Chasm playfully batted a young pupil to the ground.
Chasm’s a striker now, Theo figured.
“How do you know she’s a rogue?” Sky asked.
“Once, I ventured a little too far from Camp and overheard a pack of rogues talking,” Theo explained herself. “She and that striker were there.”
“Strange,” Sky murmured.
“Strange?” Theo ridiculed her. “Sky, these dragons were talking about attacking other dragons! They’re dangerous!”
Sky looked at her quizzically. “We’re all dangerous,” Sky pointed out. “Besides, if they want to be here, we shouldn’t object.”
“But what if they’re here to attack us?” Lichen blurted out. He had jumped to his feet, prancing nervously in place. His nervousness brought a painful, fleeting picture of Nigh darting through Theo’s head.
“Listen,” Sky hushed him. “Calm down, you’re attracting attention.” She looked at Theo, her eyes narrowed in irritancy. “What were they saying specifically?”
Theo tried to remember. “They called themselves the Strong Pack and they wanted to attack some other group called the Highlanders. Then Chasm, that striker, was trying to convince one of the dragons that it would be better to wait for the Highlanders to strike the Lakesiders, or something. But the dragon got mad and went after Chasm so Wolfe intervened and left with Chasm. I guess she’s his mentor, or used to be.”
Lichen looked dizzy. “What?” he asked at a loss, but they ignored him.
“Well, it seems like they’re not a part of that pack anymore,” Sky concluded with satisfaction. “They are now Colonists.”
“Really?! A couple of rogues can switch over just like that?”
“I suppose it’s not very common, but it’s perfectly acceptable.”
Oh, Theo thought. That’s going to be hard to get used to.
Chapter 8