Ashes to Ashes [[Wavikz & Digital Deity]]
 

Dragons naturally kept to themselves, far from civilization, father than the mountains in the east. Although humankind hardly could ever keep to themselves, always imposing on other wildlife and such. Most kingdoms considered dragons a good hunt, a way of making their strongest warriors even stronger. This wasn’t the way of one little kingdom however. They were breeding the beasts, appearing to tame them.

The trick was in the unheard music of the town. Yes, that’s right, breeders had their little secrets and it lay within a small wooden flute they carried with them always. It emitted a high pitched (so no humans could hear it) sound in which they trained the dragons to follow commands from. All the breeders and tamers carried it with them at all times. Like any other animal, as long as dragons were bred to be more human friendly from birth, they really weren’t aggressive unless you agitated one enough.

The family raising the most dragons was the King’s secret weapon, so secret, they didn’t know of the royal’s intentions. They were peace-loving, seeing the dragons as friends, like a giant, scale-y… dog. Most dragons were a bit smaller than peasant cabins, actually. They were manageable. Now this family was the Teals and the father Lukas Senior ran the show, second in line was his charming son, Lukas Junior. Most called him just Luke. He wasn’t the brightest around, but he certain was popular amongst certain crowds. He had gotten himself quite a bad name amongst other fathers, especially those with daughters. Now Luke was the only child of this family, so even the King would go far to protect this young man. He knew all the tricks to the largest dragon farm in existence, whether he acted like it or not.

It was nearing dusk, a little after suppertime, when the young man snuck into the back stables… “We’re just going to go for a little ride, boy, not too far,” He whispered as he took the restraints off one of the smaller male dragons. “We’re going to go somewhere pretty and just look at the sights!” Luke smiled, as he tried to be as quiet as possible. His father did not permit any sort of joy-riding, especially at night. He knew his boy had no sense of direction, but Luke had snuck out many times before and figured he would be fine yet again!

Off into the sky, Luke had a heavy cloak on to shield himself from the chill of the wind. His hair was almost shoulder length, so the golden blonde locks barely tied back from his face. He was good looking, though some might say not in the most manly of way, he had barely any muscle, he was slim and tall, with bright green eyes to go with the blonde. Hairless on the face, he didn’t want to be old yet—no, no beards for him! He didn’t look suitable to be a dragon breeder, his father would tell him. His mind would often wonder, he wasn’t even so sure he was up for all this. He did love dragons, but he also loved to travel, and staying at his small kingdom and getting a family didn’t suit his fancy too much. The King had even offered him one of his daughters, but Luke didn’t reply. He didn’t want to be tied down, not now not ever.

The sky was free and he was happy here at least, but with his mind wondering, his dragon did too…

“Fuck, I’ve gone too far!” Luke muttered, as he grabbed his flute that hung around his neck. He played the tune for the dragon to land in a small patch of woods near a town. He needed a minute to collect himself and figure out where he was going before he went any for. Directing the dragon to sit tight in the woods, he wondered off yet again, this time just trying to glance at the town to see whose territory it belonged too. It seemed there wasn’t any dragons around so he was just a tad bit concerned… And leaving the dragon alone probably wasn’t the best idea either.

Everyone knew Luke wasn’t smart. That was why the King offered him his daughter in hopes the lad would stay put in one place for once in his life. His parents had actually tried to have another child just in case but they had no luck. They were much too old to bare any more kin, all hope was on Luke. This should cause pressure or stress… but that too was a lost cause. He was too careful, only concerned with himself not his kingdom or even his parents.

Although Luke didn’t understand why he wasn’t so smart… he always thought he could figure things out when they happened—not bothering to plan ahead. Usually he carried a compass with him to find his way home when he wondered too far. This had actually happened before, and usually landing his dragon wasn’t a problem since not many people wondered the woods at night. This would just be another one of those times, Luke told himself. He patted down his cloak to look for the compass, but he wasn’t finding anything. The breeder began to feel a little worried.

“It must be on the dragon,” He whispered to himself as he headed back, but he couldn’t help but think… something wasn’t right. He normally wouldn’t feel this worried, he always made it back.

Then that’s when he saw it. He was cautious making his way back, keeping behind trees as he walked. He wasn’t sure what exactly this black figure was, though he could only assume if his dragon didn’t fly off soon, it would be done. The tamed beast wouldn’t give up much of a fight, and an experienced slayer could take it down in a few couple hits.

Quickly Luke grabbed the small flute that hung around his neck and played for the dragon to take off. He wasn’t entirely sure that it would get away or not, but more importantly was if Luke was to be spotted. He tried to be inconspicuous, keeping quiet and hiding amongst the woods, but it was obvious there was a rider around and if that slayer caught him… he could kill him.

Ahh, Luke knew he should have run away and became a bard way earlier in his life.

The beast had heard Luke's command above all and followed the orders as well as it could. It seemed almost to pay no attention to the immediately threat and got up and spread it's wings. Luke could hear the sound and was a little happy it wasn't just dead yet. It stood a chance. The breeder could command the dragon to attack, but he wasn't entirely sure the beast was big enough or strong enough for especially an experienced slayer. This was a young dragon, not that big of a prize, Luke thought, but slayers would take what they could get.

Finally when Luke heard the dragon take flight and figured the slayer had no chance to catch it in the air, he turned to look in the general direction where it once was. He knew the slayer knew he was here, there was no use hiding!

"Wow, what a big strong slayer, preying on such a little dragon! Oh but wait, you couldn't even catch it," Why was he saying this? He wasn't thinking. "You're such a man, come kill a defenseless tamer now and prove you're even more of the noble warrior!" He was toying with a damn killer. He only figured he would die, so messing with the man--or woman, who knew?--didn't seem like a such a big deal at the time.

Though the more Luke thought about it, the more he regretted his thoughtless outburst. This man could torture then kill him... or sell him into slavery... or.. or... Luke didn't know exactly, but it could get worse. Oh yes, it could get worse. Although it was too late to run. He had called the other out and he would stand up like and man and take whatever he got. First though, Luke broke off the flute from around his neck. Before he was approached, he had to get rid of this. It was his kingdom's secret. Quickly he tossed it further into the woods and then stood quietly, arms crossed, waiting to get a better look at the masked figure.