Page 35 of Consort's Dragon
“That would explain some of the reports,” he stated, taking a sip of his wine.
“From your thieves,” she said tartly.
“More like scavengers, and before you retort, they committed no crime.They took only what was abandoned.Or would it be preferable to let those items rot?”
His rebuke had her biting her lip, but she didn’t cower.“Those things belong to the Verlorians.”
“They had more than two decades to recover them if they wanted to.”
“The danger?—”
“Wasn’t insurmountable.”
A valid point.She also couldn’t help but remember Griff’s adamant stance about never returning.“How many died filling your coffers?”
“A few.”He didn’t deny it.“However, I will note that those sent weren’t exactly prime soldiers.That assignment was solely for those who proved troublesome at home.”
“So you sent them to a deadly land rather than demote or reprimand them?”
He shrugged.“I’m sorry you don’t approve of my methods.”
Rather than argue, she flipped a few more pages and grimaced.“What’s this?”The image was of a dragon, prone, obviously dead, and someone slicing open its midsection.
“Ah, the retrieval of the egg.Interesting fact about dragons.They are neither male nor female.”
“Then how do they reproduce?”She knew enough of nature to realize one of each was needed.
“They don’t exactly.When a dragon dies, its essence binds itself to the egg they all have within their chest cavity.Once extracted, it can be hatched via steady heat over a period of time or spontaneously?—”
“By tossing it in some lava,” she finished.“That seems an odd way for a species to survive.What happens if the egg is left to languish?”
“That is where the blooded come in.”
“The what?”
“The blooded.I am not sure how it began but it refers to the certain families, bloodlines, that are able to form bonds with dragons.Even speak to them.”
For a second, she flashed to the voice she’d heard in Verlora.The one in her head that she thought she’d imagined.“Dragons speak?”
“Oh yes.But back to the blooded—our ancestors.One of their tasks was upon the death of a dragon, usually by misadventure given they age slowly, to remove the egg from the body and ensure its rebirth.”
She glanced at the ceiling as if she could see the four eggs sitting on her dresser.“The Dracova stones obviously weren’t hatched.”
“Because instead, the blooded used them to keep Zhos quiet, but don’t ask me how that worked.The book doesn’t speak about that.It only mentions the eggs having special properties.”
“So our ancestors allowed the dragons’ line to end to save humanity.”She had to wonder what the dragons felt about that.Probably not too happy.It would explain the behavior of the one in Verlora.“Since there are five stones, I assume that means there were only ever five dragons.”
He shrugged.“Assuming some weren’t lost along with forgotten bloodlines.”
“If we hatch the eggs as you suggest, we won’t be able to use them to quiet Zhos.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“How would you know?The spire’s guardian told me if I returned them?—”
“Firstly, there are only four eggs left, which might not be enough.Second, what if something happens while you try to return them?Your ship sinks, or some miscreants get ahold of the eggs.Third, what if Zhos has already emerged?”
Avera countered with, “How will hatching a dragon make a difference?There were at least five the last time Zhos roamed this world, and the best our ancestors could accomplish was to lock Zhos away.I can only imagine the difficulty in doing even that, seeing as how the five dragons died doing so.”
