Act II: a first introduction

Over a period of three months, the council never stopped trying to pry the meaning of “dragon riders" from Isabella. Not to any success. Furthermore, she took the excuse of working on the solution to skip meetings. She made herself seen in only a few places, she had to get her food yet the marketplace was not the place she often appeared. Her special place in the forest was what she started to call home. Every day she brought some of her books and started reading. Sometimes out loud to Orlena, the dragoness that was with her.

The bigger dragoness nosed one of the books Isabella had in her grasps. “Those are the words of the gods," she noticed upon seeing one of the books Isabella brought with her. It was said the book contained the memoir of Lazeratus, the god of death and decay. That it was a complete memoir was more myth than truth, though some passages were true to the word of Lazeratus. And it was those passages she was interested in. The words of Lazeratus could help to decide what to do in your life. “Lazeratus!?" Orlena suddenly gasped. “Why you want to read the words of the world eater?" Isabella gazed up from her book to Orlena. “Why would you give Lazeratus such a name? He doesn't deserve that." Orlena's face turned sour on the comment from Isabella. “He is the one who takes and takes. Who reaps what we sow." She defended her statement.

Isabella looked at her large friend, her gaze not changing. “Death is part of life, no matter how much you try to fight it." Her reply resulted in an annoyed snort from Orlena. “You speak of death to freely. Do all your two-legged dragons share your views?" her gaze pierced her. “No, they do not." Isabella is forgetting the book she was reading, now in a sparring match with someone who could become her friend. “So far I know everyone fears death and thus fears Lazeratus. It's only natural to fear the ultimate predator so to speak. Nor I think anyone should embrace just dying. It's the struggle of life older than almost any species on this earth."

Orlena took her time, she shifted around and gazed back and forwards, she was thinking of something. Trying to understand a concept, then she latched on an idea. “what species they the gods, if they are older then life and death." Isabella refrained from answering by a simple “No one knows" answer. Some knew a very select group of dragons knew. Trough Isabella had no intention to reveal that she belonged to that elite group of dragons, in one way or another. It should come to no surprise that Orlena was not happy about the answer, her mood shifted. Growls and hisses softly came from her maw.

Isabella smiled softly as the frustrated dragon. For most the different signals of a dragon would be confused with a thread or anger, and yet it was pure frustration. Isabella's eyes traced back to the book, a rider of dragons would be able to close the communication gap. However, there is a reason the elder dragons live for such a long time and the other species not. The anthro-dragons would come close enough, but that would just make matters worse. Or would it be a big issue? Humans live about sixty years before Lazeratus comes to take them. If she took into account that the coming of age of humans was 14, the time when the women started to bleed. A human had about half a century to be a rider.

It just didn't feel right, and thus her mind wandered back to her book. She opened it again, she scrolled through the book until she found a testimony that was more or less correct to what happened. It talked about the joining of Yerana and Lazeratus. What was incorrectly translated as 'the marriage of gods'. Perhaps it was the only word that worked in to tell anyone what happened, not that anyone but her would read the books. Most societies that were run by more than one species outlawed the books. The fact she had them was itself punishable by death. Though she felt no remorse.

“Magic…" she softly growled when she realised the answer. She could not strength the lifespan to that of the elder dragons, but she could make a human life long enough for it to work.  Her clawed hand moved to another book, this one containing nothing but blank pages. In its spline, a brass fountain pen was located. She took the pen out and started to scribble on the page. Words turned into sentences turned into paragraphs that turned into a spell that itself would upset one or two gods that she could think of.

She kept on writing for hours at a time. Orlena did not disturb her really, she was uneasy about her friend's behaviour, but she could not fear that what she could not understand. She did know some words, when she took a look at Isabella's writing, she could see the words of life, and bounding forming in the language of the gods. The scripture that holds power, the first one ever made. She could feel the energy flowing through Isabella, the power that was soaked in those words. For a spell this long in the ancient language, the anthro dragoness must be mighty. There were no known dragons to Orlena's knowledge who could write more than a few words.

She did not dare to even ask what was going on when Isabella was done writing, something was up, and something was wrong. No instead she started to meditate on the gods she worshipped. She spoke herself words that were forgotten by most creatures, one of the stone languages most commonly referred to as draconic. “Yerana, goddess of life. I haven't prayed to you in a long time, forgive me. I have shamed my clan, my family…."

Isabella finished her work, only to hear an ancient name she hadn't heard for quite a lot. “Yerana" to hear the name in the Nordic dragon dialect was odd. She could reference it, though it had an odd tone to the name. She listened to Orlena's prayer, listening to her wanting an answer and feeling helpless. Knowing that the answer would never come. When Orlena was finished she looked up, when the two dragons crossed gazed she looked down embraced. “sorry, I should not have…"

The gaze of the green dragoness softened a bit. “you pray to Yerana?" She asked almost too casual. Orlena nodded “We pray to the gods. The only gods." Isabella closed her book softly and gazed up at her again. “Lots of people claim their god is the true god these days. Why are you so sure." Orlena's gaze turned annoyed at Isabella, questioning her beliefs. “Because of the lore of dragonkin. If the tale is correct, it is your story too. Children of Yerana."

Isabella's reaction was to pull a toothy grin. “If my books are correct, every living being is a child of Yerana."  Before Orlena could interject, Isabella continued. “I read many of what used to be written down on caves. The tales of Yerana, her mate Lazeratus. Cronus the god of time who makes sure the sands of times go forwards." Slowly Orlena put one and one together to realise. “you worship them? I thought none of the two-leggers does worship them."

“most do not, the teaching of Yerana is illegal inside the city. These books" her hand waved to the book of Lazeratus she read from “Is forbidden. So please, I keep your prayer secrete only if you keep my secrete." Orlena did not think twice about the offer, she would tell even if she cared about her prayer being told to others. One of the hybrid blood who worships and knows about Yerana was rare. “I assume you are going?" She concluded, “Back to the city?" Isabella nodded “Can I come with sometime?"

“No, not yet. But when it's ready, when my plan is ready." Isabella took her two books and put them back in the leather pouch they came from. “You will be the first Orlena." Her clawed hand rubbed her nose. “I will return tomorrow."

In the streets near her home, she spotted something strange, A human child with draconic scales in the middle of a group of children. At first, the oddity of it all caught Isabella's attention. Looking closer she saw the dragon scaled child had an ugly gash along her head. Isabella's ears picked up the unkind words of the other children, spotting the stones in their hands.

She gave a soft growl, enough to draw attention. The children turned around and turned wide-eyed all of them. Her eyes hardened with anger and she asked in a stern voice to the bullying children. “What do you think you are doing?" Her voice remained calm, showing now anger but her face showed what her voice missed. One of the kids suddenly tried to act brave and bold. “you have no right to say anything dragon! Dad says you cannot interfere with human-business" He looked at his friends with a 'look how brave I look.'

Isabella closed the distance between her and the children in seconds, towering down with her anthropic draconic form. “I'll risk upsetting one human" she licked her sharp teeth and showing them off. “and daddy is not here, so you are stuck with me…" smoke came from her nostrils. The children turned white and scrammed faster than lighting. Running in all directions. Isabella lowered herself to the leftover a child with dragon scales. They stopped just below her head, coating the back of her hands and down her legs. The border where the scales and human skin touched looked red and irritated.

The child looked large eye at Isabella but not scared. She knew dragons on a more personal level it seems. “Are you hurt?" Isabella asked kindly. The child nodded, pointing at the cut on her head, blood flowing from it. “Let me help, here" she took a bit of cloth from her backpack. Slowly she wrapped the child's head with the cloth to stop the blooding. “What is your name?"

“My mother called me Yerana…uhm Smith, Yerana smith." The answer widened Isabella's eyes. “Like the goddess?" she asked. The child nodded. “Mother says because I was impossible and yet life still found a way." Isabella was taken aback for a moment feeling part pride and part wonder on whoever birthed her. Humans and dragons could reproduce according to the goddess' magic but this shape? That was rather impossible. “Where do you live?" Isabella was curious to find out, the humanoid dragon or the draconic human pointed down the street at the last house in the street. It was a full wooden house that hasn't seen maintenance for quite some time. With a claw in the girl's hand, she led her down the street.

The door of the house was slanting in its frame, most of the windows were covered in grit and dirt from coal fires. Two wooden benches under the windows, covered with rubbish. Slowly Isabella knocked on the door with Yerana next to her. Her knocks echoed through the house, and it took a right moment before the door opened up to her.

The women opening the door was slightly pale looking with white hair and bright blue eyes. She was skin over bones and wore a dirty leather skirt. She did not have features so the speak of and Isabella was sure that she could count the bones through the leather if she tried to. “C…" she stammered looking with wide blue eyes at the dragoness. “Councillor Isabella." She stammered softly. “to what I owe this honour?" Isabella moved to the side to show the half-dragon Yerana. “I found your daughter. Would you mind if I come in?" Isabella thought the women could not become any paler. However, she was proven wrong when she spoke those words.

“Sure, Councillor Isabella." She ushered her daughter in with haste and Isabella stepped into the small house slowly. The insides whereas hollow like they sounded only a fireplace and a small table. Against one wall two beds where placed. Everything in one room and everything covered with a layer of coal dust. Isabella glanced at the chairs next to the table. She did not want to sound prude but she rather not set down on the coal layer chairs. “What do you wish to speak with me for." She tried to regain her posture. Isabella eyed Yerana who crawled into the bed and threw the covers over her face. With only one room in the house, she could not hide, and she was forced to listen to what they were talking about.

Keeping that in mind she started to ask the first question. “Miss, your daughter is a half dragon? Was the father dragon?" the women nodded slowly, tears in her eyes. “Yes, miss councillor. I am sorry to miss the councillor. I know it's against the rules, but…" she could not contain herself and started to cry, tears rolled down her cheeks. Clearing ash from her cheeks and leaving white streaks down her cheeks. Isabella took a deep breath to mutter a few words that could end her life if that was possible. “I excuse your behaviour." It was just four simple words. That could mean trouble for her and alive without worry to the two in this house. Trough undocumented it could not stand in higher court.

The women looked up from between her tears still sniffling. “what..?" she sniffled and tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “You cannot, I cannot be exposed!" She suddenly protested. An odd way to combat something that could save her life. “But you will be safe from execution," Isabella said softly, hoping the little girl would not hear. “From the council maybe, but not from the lynch mob that would appear outside." She pointed at the door “they will burn my house down with me in it."

Isabella took in a deep breath “Then we will not speak of it. But I want to ask the way." She asked sincerely. “I want to know why you risked your life for a dragon…who is not around." The women laid her hand on something under the cloths. “may I see?" Isabella asked the women who slowly gave a golden pendant on a rough leather string. The metal felt warm and familiar in her clawed hand. “Southern dragon gold?" she suddenly placed the feeling. “Southern dragon gold!? She opened the pendant and saw an image of an anthro dragon laying on a bed. Then she looked closer and saw the dragon's chest rising and falling. Her eyes turned to slits to puzzled between the women in front of her and the dragon inside the pendant.

“Magic" she slowly whispered handing back the pendant. “So he never left you…" she puzzled a bit. “gone back to the clan halls?" The women nodded slowly. “He doesn't have a permit to stay, the company he was employed at got bought up and all dragons where banished." Isabella huffed softly and then looked around. “I wish he was here, with my daughter I cannot get employment. Dragon work is not suited for human employers and me doesn't want to employ the mother of a monster."

Isabella looked at the two, the solution was simple. Even when it required her to invite two strange people into her home, into her inner sanctum. She could use the help, and she could learn from the two. After all, they created what she longed for, abound between dragon and human. “how did you come to love each other?"

“How do you come to love anyone?" the women asked in return “It feels like it just happened. He was a trader that I bought from, it just evolved from there after I noticed that dragons do have humour" She paused a bit looking at her daughter. Her daughter nearly coming to the age of bleeding should get used to the subject of love and making children. So she continued herself. “And I thought dragons and humans couldn't reproduce. Only elves if magic was used."

Isabella shook her head softly “Humans are close enough to elves to make that possible, trough without magic" she looked at Yerana. “It was bound to happen. If not you, someone else. If I cannot offer you an excuse for your behaviour. But could I over you succenturiate in my own home? I need someone who can clean and cook without caring about my unusual collection."

A silence fell between the two women talking, along uneasy quite while the mother tried to process what was happening. Her facial expression turned hopeful, through her eyes showed doubt. “what is this unusual collection?" She asked sharply, afraid to be drawn into another horrible hole where she cannot get out of. Isabella looked down at her leather back she carried and opened it, showing her the book she brought with her. “You are your secrets, I have mine," Isabella said softly. “So, could this all keep between us?" She continued, and the women nodded softly. “I accept" the women's voice was suddenly filled with confidence at her own decision. “My name is Ada before we forget" She added.

“Ada" Isabella walked away from home with an odd cocktail of feelings, she was happy to help someone who needed it, but at the same time, she was filled with worry if this was a right decision. Was her secrete still save?