Clover was at the age where she was just beginning to live on her own. Wizards, as a rule, were communal, the dormitories of school giving way to collective complexes, with a rare few living in their own burrow-houses. Clover had just moved into her own room in the complex. Wizards lived underground, it was easier that way, harder to trace, for Wizards in this day and age were creatures of the forest; they were the hunted, prey to the King's men. Still, with their arcane powers, they lived reasonably well. Food was always hard to come up with, as one cannot magic one's stomach full, but they foraged and even farmed what they could without being detected.
However, Wizards were not typically hunters, so their diet mainly consisted of nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables. When meat was desired, the Wizards turned to another group hunted mercilessly by the King, the Dragons. The Dragons were grateful for the trade, as while they were hunters, they also could eat the nuts and berries the Wizards collected, and the Wizards were much better at making crafted goods. Both the Wizards and the Dragons were very magical, but in different ways, and in the end, though both parties appreciated the trade, neither liked each other very much, and they both mostly kept to themselves.
Since the Dragons lived decently far from the Wizards, often a few of the Wizards would go over to the Dragon settlement to initiate the trades. Clover had volunteered to go, the first time she had gone. This would be the first time Clover had seen a dragon, and it excited her a lot.
The group was small, six Wizards, kitted out with backpacks full of nuts, berries, grain and craft goods. They made their way slowly through the forest, while the Dragon settlement could be walked to in a day, they would make camp and take two, because they were heavily encumbered. Their way back would be much simpler, the Dragon settlement was upriver, and they also carried the supplies to make a crude raft, which they could make in short order, so the meat would not spoil.
Clover was used to living off the woods, as a young girl, she had camped out quite often. She was quite acclimated at the camp, and in her typical, quietly impatient way, she went to sleep early, both to conserve her energy and to make tomorrow happen all the faster.
The group left with the dawn, and around midday, they found themselves at the Dragon village. Clover was quite impressed with the creatures. Though they looked like beasts, and wore no clothing, they showed their intelligence in so many ways. The first and most noticeable one was the eyes. Through slit-shaped pupils, colored in a brilliant silver, clearly looked the eyes of an intelligent being. Clover was surprised that anyone had ever had any doubt of it. She could see them analyzing, thinking. Their poise was calculated and extremely emotive.
As she entered the village, she saw amazing buildings. The entire village was made of cloth and poles, sturdy, well-worn tents, designed to be moved at a moments notice. The tents were large, and somewhat heavy, being made from hardwood poles for strength. Dragons were large and well-muscled, standing a head or two higher than the tallest of humans, and could carry hundreds of kilograms.
The Dragon conducting the trade spoke, in a strange voice. Its vocal cords were not quite made for human speech. It sounded almost strained, but belying the tones and sounds of a language totally alien. “New one today? She broken?” Clover realized she had been staring for quite some time. Clover went over what she had been told about the Dragons, about the lack of trust, about how different they are, about sticking to business. She decided to throw that all into a pit. “Yes,” she said, politely, “My name is Clover, and I apologize if I seemed rude. This is all new for me. It's nice to meet you.”
Suddenly, Clover got dangerously bold. It was part of her personality, but usually she was more sensible. She started, “We've been trading with your people for years, but we know so little about each other. We are both in the same situation, living out here, attacked by the soldiers of the King. If we could learn more about each other, perhaps, we could all live better. I would like to stay here, and learn, and talk with you, and live with you, if that would be alright with you.”
The Wizards were shocked, nothing like this had been suggested, or even thought of before. The Dragon became pensive, considering this. Before the Dragon had a chance to speak, another Wizard cut in front of Clover. “Ignore what she is saying, this is her first time, I think the stress has made her a little mad. Now, we have brought the goods you had asked for the previous time, is that good?” The deal commenced, and quite a lot of food changed hands, and nothing was brought up about Clover's request.
This was, of course, quite a large breach of protocol. The Wizards tended to look down on the Dragons, thinking them inferior, ignoring their magic and culture and ways. Even the learned, and sometimes especially the learned, have closed of quite large parts of their minds. Clover knew she would be in trouble, and remained quiet for the rest of the trip.
The way back was mostly uneventful. Clover proved rather efficient in assembling the raft, and they took back quite a haul of meat, most of it salted to preserve it. When they returned to the Wizard village, they would put the meat in a magically-kept cold storage.
Clover, in private, wrote much of what she observed of the Dragons down as soon as she got back. Later on, one of the senior Wizards asked for her. He discussed her behavior with the Dragon, and what she had asked. Clover could deny nothing, and knew she would be punished. The senior Wizard was forgiving, thinking her overwhelmed by the new event, instead of genuinely intrigued.
In the end, Clover was not allowed on one of these trips again for quite a long time, though otherwise she got off lightly. When she did go, she was quiet, and surreptitiously observed the Dragons. She longed for the day when she could actually speak with them on good, equal terms, and as she advanced through the society of Wizards, her talents and insights propelling her through the ranks, she looked forward to the day when she was in enough power to shirk, and possibly even change, the prevailing rules and attitudes. Though later on, she was allowed on trips to trade with the Dragons, she longed to really see the Dragons once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment