Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 24

Keeper’s
Blaze
By Stacey Welsh
Griev pushed his horse hard through the underbrush. The animal’s breath ran ragged and foam
flecked its muscled chest and dripped off the hardened
leather toes of his boots.
“Where are you, you scaled bastard?” he muttered, as he scanned the skies, seeking the light blue
beyond the canopy of the trees overhead. He heard the
keening cry of his quarry, it echoed around the forest,
bouncing off the stones of the canyon to the east and
reverberating over the mountainside.
It was hard enough to track a dragon on the
wing, but when the young drake had took to the skies
from the eyrie suddenly that morning with a cry of
victory, the Keepers knew it meant only one thing,
Aergenan had found his bonded Keeper. Many had
given up hope for the beast. Fearing that he would
turn wild before he found and bonded with his keeper
and protector.
Griev had to find him and stop him from destroying anyone and everything in the search for the
Keeper who would bring forth his full intelligence.
For now, the young Great Dragon was running on
beastly instincts.
Should anyone threaten the Keeper, the dragon
would tear them limb from limb, eviscerating them
and then probably feasting on their innards. That, or
Aergenan would use his fire to raze the village nearby.

Screams from the nearby village on the other
side of the forest urged him onwards. The cries of the
dragon were truncated with bursts of flame. Griev
pushed the exhausted horse harder again, kicking the
poor animal in the sides. It heaved a sigh and then
surged forward, breaking through the trees and back
towards the road.
The wind whipped Griev’sblack dreadlocks to
fly like several coiled ropes. His black leather armour
creaked as he hunched himself over the horse’s bobbing neck and the sun warmed his dark skin. As a
member of the Draconi Guard, he was charged with
ensuring that damage from the Dragons was kept to a
minimum, especially those who went in search of their
bonded Keeper.
There had been instances of the seeking dragon unwittingly killing its keeper when it unleashed
its flame on the place where its intended keeper was
hiding. Griev didn’t want that to happen, he couldn’t
let that happen. For Aergenan to lose his keeper would
be a tragedy that would have repercussions that would
be felt for generations to come.
Aergenan was to be the next Dragon King, and
the stability of the region depended on the successful survival and bonding of the Keeper that the gods
themselves had chosen for the Dragon.
Griev rode through the town’s gates, passing
panicking villagers, his horse blowing hard. When he
finally dismounted he looked around for the Dragon,
his eyes on the sky. A great shadow crossed overhead,
momentarily blotting out the sun as Aergenan flew
overhead. His roars causing windows to rattle. A woman, with a bundle in her arms, screamed as the Great
Dragon landed.
The frightened maid cowered before the creature, her body trembling as she clutched the babe cloer
to her body, trying to protect the child from the dragon
who lowered his noseand snuffled her.
“Lady, come towards me, very slowly…”
Griev said, holding out his leather-clad hand to the
frightened woman.

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