Mind made up, he walked into the cave and built a fire in the kitchen, although the cave generated warmth from the ground. Then he closed the crude woven reed shutter over the window and the other for the door, leaving only a small opening to slip outside. The dragon watched his every move.
At the smokehouse, he used the iron and flint to relight the fire to finish the smoking. Then he removed two huge pieces of the goat they’d killed and went back inside. He gnawed on one while the dragon devoured the other. The warmth from the stove filled the room and made it feel like summer.
He hadn’t finished his bench, but the sleeping mat felt as good as any bed ever had. His eyelids closed. He slept until almost dark, then ate again, refueled both fires, and went back to sleep, the dragon at his side.
CHAPTER NINE
Waking the next morning, Seth took stock of his situation. He and dragon ate more of the smoked meat. He would have to replenish it with both of them eating from it, but he was alone on an island with winter almost upon him. He needed to plan. Soon, a large bowl of water warmed on the stove. He removed his ragged, filthy clothing and washed from hair to toes. Then he rinsed the clothing and wrung it out. He tossed the foul water and refilled the bowl. He washed them again.
The dragon raced past and chased a bee. It would learn what to chase and what to leave alone, but Seth laughed and called, “You better hope you don’t catch that. Someone needs to teach you what you need to know.”
He paused and considered. “I can’t keep calling you dragon. You need a real name, and I’ve just thought of one.”
The dragon raced back to his side and looked inquisitively at his face.
Laughing again, Seth said, “I’m going to name you after a good man. His name, least for a while, was Dawn.”
The dragon looked pleased.
Seth said, “Dawn. A new beginning, he once told me. It’s a good name for you.” He scratched an itch on his back. The dragon raced off to hunt again, or perhaps to explore the island. The itch diminished as the dragon ran farther and Seth mentally listed all the tasks facing him. The list struck him as endless. I may never reach thirteen-years-old.
The dragon returned, and so did the itch on his back. He laid his clean clothes out to dry in the sun. Overhead, a dragon of reddish hue flew in the direction of the nest. Seth shivered again, but this time from loathing and not cold.
He stood near the smokehouse and tossed in more apple wood as the new Dawn stood aside and watched. The old man would be pleased he’d named the dragon after him. He pictured him smiling. His clothing steamed from the heat of the smokehouse. Seth turned them as he would a choice cut of meat over a fire, so they didn’t burn.
He scratched his back and twisted to look. A line drew his attention. Twisting further, he managed to see other black lines. They itched when Dawn came close. Probably something from the nest.
A year later, he had grown used to the tingle on his back when his dragon came near, but he also felt the same sensation when other dragons flew near. The tingling lessened as they flew away, but he often looked up to the sky before a dragon came into view, sometimes before Dawn reacted. Dawn grew fast. By the time spring warmed the air, it weighed twice as much as Seth, and by the end of summer, it struggled to enter the cave.
It learned to fly that summer and to hunt for itself in the fall and winter. Often the dragon left for a full day, but always returned before dark.
For the following eleven summers, it returned every night. Seth enlarged the entrance to the cave twice. He expected the dragon to fly off one day and find a mate, but it always returned. Thinking about that made Seth consider his situation. If a dragon needed a mate, so did he.
It had been eleven years without speaking to another. Modoc wouldn’t remember him, probably. But Sunset never answered, and loneliness had increased over time, and Seth wanted someone to answer him back. He wanted a mate, but since none came to the island, he would leave to find one.
The single item holding him back was Dawn. How would the dragon react if it returned and found Seth missing? They were friends, old friends. He couldn’t pack up and leave, but he thought of it every day.
Then one evening the dragon didn’t return. It came back the next day, then disappeared for two full days. Seth didn’t know where it went, but he knew the time had come. When Dawn approached, his back tingled and itched. The feelings grew stronger as the dragon came nearer. His reflection in the pond revealed the outline of a dragon. He splashed water on it, and tried to wash it off, but if anything, the image increased in detail.
The old canoe he had arrive in had rotted long ago, but Seth had tanned hides treated with oils and fat. He had already shaped hardwoods into a frame. He’d even carved a paddle in preparation. He used the evening to stretch, cut, and sew the skins on the frame.
The following morning Seth carried his supplies to the beach where he had first arrived on the island and began construction of the boat. Dawn flew over twice, the first day but didn’t return that night. Each time his back reacted the same. The second day, as Seth paddled away from the island and reached open water, Dawn flew over him several times. Each time Seth knew when to look up before the dragon even came into sight because if the image on his back.
A whole world awaited him, and hopefully, a woman to share it. He imagined himself back on the island in fifty years, his hair white and hanging to his shoulders, his skin as wrinkled as that of his old friend, Sunset. The difference was that in his imagination, Seth had dozens of his family living in the caves, family he thought of as his Dragon Clan.
The End
Hopefully, you enjoyed the prequel of the Dragon Clan and will enjoy the rest of the series. The characters change with each book, each book advancing the overall story.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LeRoy Clary
I have never met a dragon. Never even seen one. But wish I had. They fascinate me, so I decided to construct a mental world where they coexist with people. Most of my books are about them, and I call the people the Dragon Clan.
A book called DRAGON! started it. While similar to the Dragon Clan Series , it set up the idea of how to live and survive in a world where dragons are part of the landscape without resorting to cartoonish dragons or creatures as intelligent and conniving as people. The next hurdle was to keep the stories coming fast enough to satisfy the readers.
The book called the Blade of Lies was a finalist in an Amazon national novel writer’s contest, although under another name. It survives with humor, a medieval setting, and the idea that good guys do win. It is worth the read.
I've done a bit of everything before retiring from teaching high school math and special education. Before that I served in the US Navy, I worked in the electronics field as a technician, supervisor, and owner of a telecom business. I earned my papers as a sea captain for sailboats and motor craft, all of which gives me the background to write books about dragons.