The Others

Chapter Four

It might be the excitement, it might be the fright that the dragon will be gone when I get home, but something puts extra speed in my legs. The moment the sun is on its highest, I arrive at the town. I instantly run to the temple in the centre, and take off my old leather shoes, before I enter.

After making the appropriate salutations to the statue of the Mother of all Others at the entrance, I quickly walk towards the painting of the old king.

My heart beats faster, while I observe the characteristics of the dragon he’s riding. It looks a lot like the little creature in my barn. There’s some differences of course, like the length of the teeth, and the fact that the king’s dragon has big horns on the top of his head, and very long nails. Not to forget the chainmail he’s wearing, and the big royal cloths with the Golden Rose of the royalty embroidered on it. But that’s all manmade, obviously.

I hear someone scrape his throat behind me, and look back. ‘Hey Gabby’, I tell the man behind me. He’s dressed in a big, dark-green robe. He’s been working at the temple for as long as I remember, but he’s not much older than me. Maybe twice my age.

‘I do not see you very often in the King’s Temple lately, Maya’, he says. The words he chose make it sound like he’s disappointed, but I see in his eyes that he’s just very happy to see me. ‘Is everything alright?’

I nod as an answer. ‘It’s very busy at the farm, father’s been gone for a while now and I’m helping out mum with everything. You know she does not do very well without him.’

Gabby smiles. ‘Yet I see your mom every first and last day of the week, like everyone is required by the king.’

‘Speaking of the king’, I change subject while I face back towards the painting. ‘This one, here. I know he’s the previous king, but can you tell me something about him, and about his dragon?’

Gabby scrapes his throat. I hope he’s going to be the wise-nose he always used to be. I am truly interested to hear this.

‘It’s not the previous king’, he starts off well. ‘It’s the recent king’s grandfather. So it’s the one before him, called Morgen.’ I hear Gabby tap the floor with his bare foot, three times. As is common for Templists when they say royal names out loud. ‘Morgen the Second, also known as the Last Dragonrider.’

Gabby points to the painting with the entire palm of his hand. I know he’s not allowed to use only a finger. ‘The dragon also had a name’, he says. ‘Emeraugh the Last, named after his emerald coloured skin.’

‘Was he really the last dragon?’ I continue my questions. Gabby nods.

‘Unfortunately, yes. You must still remember that Emeraugh was Morgen’s Other. They fought the suppressor that had claimed the throne for so long. Margo the Faithless.’ The smile on Gabby’s face disappears. ‘Margo was the last of his line. They had held the throne for hundreds, and hundreds of years. Letting the world in despair. There were no great cities, like Parth and Yuno. The entire world was covered in small towns like ours, and it was overrun with magicians making their own laws. There were tribes living in the forests, pretending to be better than the normal man. Living with magic, without the assistance of Others. It was pretty horrific.’

I smile, but don’t mean it. I have heard stories like this before, mostly from Gabby, years ago. When I still loyally came to the temple to listen to it. But the world they always speak of, before the new royalty started war, always sounded like a better world to me. It does not make sense that there’d been a war, killing so many people, and putting so many types of Others into extinction.

‘And now the tribes are gone, right?’ I ask Gabby. He nods.

‘All thanks to the great Morgen, yes. Now you will always recognize magicians, because of their uniforms and because they are accompanied by Others. The world is in a much better state than it used to be. No more thievery, treachery and random murder. All known magicians work for the king, and his nobility, keeping our army strong to prevent others from taking the throne.’ He puts his hand on my shoulder, making me feel pretty uncomfortable. ‘But you already know that, because of your brother.’

I turn around, so his hand falls of my shoulder. ‘Yes’, I say with pain in my heart. ‘But were there other dragons alive, while Emeraugh was alive?’ Gabby nods. ‘And what happened to them?’ I continue my line of questioning.

‘Many people tried to control and tame the dragons, to make them be soul-linked to them, like Emeraugh was to Morgen. But we all know, that Others choose us, and not the other way around. Dragons were wild creatures, and not bound to humans. That’s why Emeraugh is the only dragon that ever chose to link itself to a human by becoming his inferior.’ He points at the painting with his palm again. ‘Just take a good look at it. Can you imagine dragons roaming the earth, and giving themselves to us as pets? They were five, six times our size. Why would they bow down to any man. Other than King Morgen, of course.’

I must agree to what he’s saying. What I know of Other’s, is that they willingly link their souls to the people that they want to share their lives with. Humans do not choose the Other, but Others choose the human. And when they do, they become subordinate. They have to listen to their human’s commands, because they always have to stay together, so the human can use their magic. Without the Other, the human is just that: human.

‘Why the sudden interest in our royalty?’ the man behind me asks. I shrug, while I quickly come up with an excuse.

‘I’m becoming of age’, I say, knowing Gab will enjoy this answer. ‘If my mother decides to give me to a man, and I give him children, I must know how to raise them in the true faith. As a child I never gave a lot of attention to the religion of the King, but I feel the responsibility to get to know more.’

The look on his face, makes me know I chose the right excuse. ‘Perfect’, he says. ‘So your mother already told you who she chose?’

My heart skips a beat. ‘What?’ I instantly say to the man, too loud for temple-rules. His smile instantly vanishes.

‘I take that as a no.’

I grab Gabby’s hand. ‘She chose me a man?’ I say. ‘Please, Gabby. You must tell me who it is, I must know.’

Gabby shakes his head. ‘I cannot’, he says simply. ‘But trust me, when he came to your mother to ask for your hand, she came to me for advice. And there’s no match better, than the one she agreed to.’