Ruler of Ash

The dragon had taken the bait. It emerged from the trees, nostrils flared as it sniffed the burnt surroundings for a meal or potential threat. Elithia stilled her breath. This would be her only moment for glory. It all had to go to plan.

The sun had almost set behind the trees, so Elithia could only make the dragon out by the dying embers of the fires she had lit. After endless months of tracking the dragon, this would be her first glimpse. It was not as magnificent as she had hoped. It was a plain looking beast with olive-brown scales that allowed it to blend into the surrounding bushes and trees. Its elongated body resembled that of a giant serpent, so it appeared to slither when it moved. It was a lot smaller than the dragons that the Usurpers rode, but just as terrifying. Although anything with sharp teeth that could breathe fire struck fear into people. Elithia tingled at the thought.

Elithia knew what it was like to be small and plain. She was on the smaller side herself, but on top of even this tiny dragon she would loom over others. The thought pleased her. Her features were typically Thornish; dark brown hair that was almost black, eyes so dark that they swallowed those who looked into them. However, there was nothing remarkable or defining about her. Although soon there would be. No one would mistake her with a dragon by her side.

Elithia believed that its size and colouring were what had saved it from being hunted and slaughtered. It was rare to see a wild dragon anymore, since the Usurpers had decreed that they all be killed. According to the Usurpers, wild dragons were a threat to the Thornish community. They were blamed for stolen farm animals and burnt cities, unable to be controlled. But the wild dragons alone were not the real threat. The threat would come if the lower class possessed one. The lower class having that type of power threatened their kingdom. A kingdom they had unlawfully claimed. A kingdom that Elithia planned to take back on top of this very dragon.

She had tracked the dragon for almost a year. Based off of its scratchings, she knew what it liked to eat, where it slept, its favourite place to drink and hunting technique. From the tracks and charred carcasses she had seen, this dragon had a taste for goats. This made setting her trap simple. She had stolen and slaughtered ten goats from a nearby farm and spread them amongst the drying spinifex in a thicket of trees. The farmer would not mind when they knew their goats' sacrifice was for the greater good of the kingdom. The farmer would praise her for her brilliance and offer her more goats than she and her dragon could eat in an entire winter.

Once the sun had begun to set, she had then lit the dried spinifex and watched it devour the landscape. Flames dancing and licking and curling around the tall grass and dead looking trees. Making way for new growth. New beginnings.

The warmer months were approaching, but the weather was still wet, which meant the burn would be controlled by nature. Once the flames began to peter out, Elithia prayed to the gods that the smell of burnt goat would entice the dragon. She hoped it would believe it had stumbled across the remnants of another wild dragon’s conquest. An easy meal. She had been right. But attracting the dragon with the promise of food was the simple part. The next part of her plan was more difficult.

To become a dragon rider, the rider and dragon must form a bond. The Usurpers did that by breeding and rearing young dragons. But an adult dragon was more complex. Her father told stories about dragon riders who had tamed wild dragons through clever tricks. While some were just lucky, there were those who had captured dragons and trained them against their will until the bond set. But that would be impossible for one human to achieve, even with a small dragon. Others made daily offerings to a wild dragon until the dragon became too lazy to hunt and accepted the bond. One dragon rider pretended they had fallen from a cliff and needed to be saved. The dragon took pity and rescued them. The bond was set once the dragon rider climbed on the dragon's back.

This had given Elithia an idea.

After the site had been blackened and the smell of burnt goat flesh filled the air, Elithia had placed her little brother Ormond amongst the charred grass before the dragon had arrived. Born three summers ago, Ormond now slept unknowing of the horror that loomed in the trees. Her plan was that the dragon would consider him abandoned or lost, left behind by his elders. The dragon would assume that the child needed to be saved. And since a sleeping child presented no threat, once the dragon moved to pick Ormond up, Elithia would run over and offer it praise for finding her lost little brother. That would set their bond. It had to be enough.

All was happening according to plan. Unless the dragon decided to make Ormond a meal. But in that case, their family wouldn’t miss one child. Their parents were always losing and replacing children. In fact, their mother had another one on the way. The Clearing's had hardened them against death.

Her family would be grateful for Ormond’s sacrifice when Elithia brought home the dragon. He would save their whole family from the next Clearing. There were ten days until this year’s Clearing. The Clearing used to be to regenerate the land and encourage rebirth of plants, before it became an excuse for murder and destruction. The Usurpers rode around on their dragons and burnt crops, houses and scrubland with the claim to promote rebirth and bring natural order amongst the kingdom. But all it achieved was keeping the poor, poor and the rich, rich. They had no pattern for what lands they attacked, so each year the people would pray to the gods that they would be pardoned. Others paid the Usurpers handsomely each year and were always left untouched. But Elithia's family could not afford to do that. Every year they were devastated by The Clearing in some way.

Thunder clapped and rain started to fall from the sky as the dragon approached Ormond. Ormond stirred at the sound, eyes fluttering against the lightning that crackled across the dark sky. Rain sprinkled his body, but he remained asleep. The sleep tea she had given him would help with that. It was a mercy.

As rain coated the dragon’s scales, they began to glitter against the fire embers. Fragments of colour danced across the beast, making the plain dragon appear like a walking rainbow. Elithia was mesmerised. She had never seen anything so beautiful. An array of blues and pinks and reds that made the beast appear magical.

‘I shall call you Tamarix.’ Elithia whispered to herself. Named after the hardy, brown shrub that would not burn, but produces bright pink flowers in the spring.

Elithia was so transfixed that she had forgotten about where Tamarix was headed.

Ormond awoke.

No, no, no. This was not a part of the plan. Ormond yawned and rolled over to meet the dragon’s eyes. Tamarix rose tall above him. Elithia ran. Her plan was falling apart, and quickly. If Tamarix killed Ormond, she would have nothing to bond with the dragon. And then have to explain why Ormond had not returned home with her.

She threw herself between the pair, extending a hand to push away Tamarix’s snout. Tamarix snarled and knocked her to the ground, Elithia falling on the left side of her body. She heard the snap of her collarbone and grunted. She tried to push herself up to block Tamarix from Ormond, but Tamarix pinned her down with a curled talon.

Ormond did not move and neither did Tamarix, both unfazed by Elithia’s shouts for Tamarix to obey. They stared at each other, almost knowingly. It made Elithia's skin crawl and she soon stopped her yelling. Ormond cocked his head and the dragon mirrored it. Am I hallucinating? Like they had heard her, Tamarix and Ormond both looked down at Elithia, completely in sync. Elithia stopped moving. Stopped breathing. Unsure of what she was witnessing. Both of their eyes were the colour of blue flame.

Ormond and Tamarix looked at each other again. They opened their mouths and a white light passed between them. Ormond screamed. Or had it been Elithia who had screamed? She was convinced it was the white light of death, but she could not feel the heat of the dragon’s flames. Maybe death felt like nothing.

When the light passed and she regained her vision, Ormond had a red scar curled around his arm in the shape of a dragon’s tail. Tamarix, a human hand print burnt onto their chest.

Ormond had bonded with Tamarix. Ormond was to be a dragon rider.

Elithia screamed for a whole new reason.