Forest Keep 1
#3 of Forest Keep
Chapter 1 - Beginnings (Edited 12/10/08 to correct font issues and update version)
Water is an amazing element. In its pure form, it has no taste, no smell, and is in fact very unpleasant to work with. What makes water enjoyable, is the minor impurities introduced though various sources. Bits of plants, soil, minerals and myriad organisms too small for the eye to see. Some sources of water are more sought after than others, those typically being the ones less influenced by anything other then raw nature itself.
Cill had just such a source, in fact it was one of her prized possessions, if one could possess a lake. It was fed by rainwater and melting snow from the nearby hills, filtered through the valleys and small streams to end up at this one shallow depression.
This natural cycle that saw the water end up at this very lake, the very spot she called her own, this incredible lake, which was now being intruded upon by a very bad smelling and disrespectful animal.
A human, monkey, which ever you wished to call it was irrelevant at this point, what was very important was how it was splashing about in her water.
The Dragon word for 'human' is more a combination of thoughts sounding vaguely along the lines of, disgusting, untrustworthy, irritable, crass, and most of all, dangerous. These definitions now flashed through Cill's memory flushing away previous thoughts of her beautiful lake and how this creature was rapidly defiling it.
Carefully her pace slowed, body lowering further to hug the ground. Silently her form crept though the low hanging brush until right at the edge of cover. She must remove this creature some way, but how?
"It'll take days to clear that stink out" she grumbled to herself quietly, not taking her eyes off the intruding humans naked body as he swam about cheerfully in her placid lake, his horse tethered nearby cropping the grass and occasionally taking a drink itself.
James relaxed in the warm water, floating on his back and enjoying himself after three hot days in the saddle, his clothes lay at the side of the pool drying in the warm sun. It would make a favorable impression to ride into the keep looking clean and refreshed rather than covered in travel dust and grime.
He couldn't shake a sudden instinctive sense of warning, the feeling that eyes were upon him, and none too friendly eyes at that, lying on his back in the water he let his gaze roam slowly over the woods surrounding the lake while he floated slowly back to the edge, closer to his sword should he need it.
After a few minutes, he realized there was nothing there or at least nothing he could see. He climbed out of the pool, stripping the water off his limbs slowly and dried off in the sun, he stayed alert, though still not seeing the lambent slitted green eyes watching him steadily from the close-packed rushes.
Cill's gaze roamed slowly over the human's naked form, resting on the well-muscled chest and flat stomach. She had never seen a human up close before and naturally was curious about them. Blonde hair traveled down his chest and belly to a small indentation she did not recognize then down further to his groin, the flaccid penis seeming rather puny to her eyes.
Humans didn't even have a sheath to protect and hide the delicate thing she snorted to herself, however do they get that into a female? She wiggled a bit as the thought of mating sending a sudden, secret thrill through her body, her tail twitching as her innards seemed to grow warm.
She did not know why she felt his way every time she thought of males recently but decided she would ask her mother about it later.
James pulled his slightly damp clothes on and whistled his horse over; he would have to remember this lake. It was close to the keep and was private enough to clean and relax in without worrying about unexpected visitors.
Climbing into the saddle, he trotted off thoughtfully towards his new home, One of the best keeps for training, his father had said. He did not hear the quiet hiss of frustration coming from the pool behind him as the dragoness sniffed the water, swirling it about before slithering in with a sigh of relief.
Cill soaked quietly in the lake and thought; her parents were a silent call away and could perhaps answer some of the questions burning in her mind. This was her private place though. How should she scare off the human so he would not come back with armed soldiers and ruin it all?
She sucked idly on a talon, a habit she had had since she was a hatchling and one her parents had been unable to break, her agile tongue curling over it as she pondered the problem.
James turned the corner and saw the massive Keep from the road. He paused gaping, impressed at its size and construction; it would take a major battering to reduce those walls.
Slowing his horse to a walk, he approached openly so as not to alarm the guards and give the wrong impression, his letter of introduction still dry in its sealed packet in his jerkin.
The guards at the gates seemed friendly and unsuspicious, 'a good start', he thought to himself. He turned his horse in the direction indicated by the guard who had searched his bags and asked him his business. A single look at the seal on the letter had gotten him inside with a minimum of delay and he grinned to himself as he headed into the bailey and the main donjon
Cill fidgeted in her pool, unsure as to what was disturbing her. She sniffed and swam over to the area the man had spread out his clothing whilst he had been swimming.
Her questing snout sniffed over the area until she found a small square of cloth giving off an odor that made her nostrils twitch.
A squiggle embroidered upon the hanky did not mean anything to the dragoness but she sniffed it again... Musty yet flowery, not knowing what perfume was and the importance of a lady's favor she wadded up the cloth into a ball and tossed it into some bushes away from the pool.
Her nostrils flared again as she caught a hint of the human's scent from the grass.
It sent a confusing ripple through her body and she shook her head in bafflement... it was definitely time to talk with her mother...
James made a nervous yet experienced bow as he stood before Sir Tarrant, "Squire James Laurence at your service Sir' reaching into his jerkin he pulled out the message packet with its precious contents.
"I have a letter of introduction from Prince Harold for you sir'.
Taking the packet with a grin, Duncan Tarrant broke the seal and unfolded the letter, carefully reading it from top to bottom while James tried to prevent his anxiety showing. Resting his weight on the balls of his feet, he slowly looked round the room.
Trophy shields and weapons were apparent on every wall, obviously this man had never shirked a fight or duel. A somewhat faded yet elegant tapestry depicting the keep covered the bare wall behind the lords desk.
Duncan folded the letter back up slowly and returned it to James.
"So' he chuckled "You want to enter your novitiate here?" he looked seriously at James, knuckles on his desk while awaiting his answer.
"Yes Sir', James replied enthusiastically, "I have only had limited training in arms as a squire but the Prince said I had a natural talent for fighting".
Duncan nodded "and also a talent for getting into mischief as well it would seem" he chuckled good-naturedly.
James paled a little; he had not read the letter and dreaded what was in it.
"Er...There may have been a few incidents of over eagerness and error..." he stuttered, several of the 'incidents' running through his mind like dirty footprints.
"But I'm sure nothing like that will happen here" he finished apprehensively, feeling beads of nervous sweat suddenly pricking his forehead.
Duncan grinned, "I hope not, I expect discipline from my novices and if you are to be trained you will need to concentrate. No drunkenness, wenching or gambling are allowed during training periods" coming to a decision, he offered his hand.
"Welcome to Guildford Forest keep son. Now go and find Martin down in the bailey, He's the seneschal of the keep and will find you a room, show you round and explain things"
Cill splashed out of the pool and shook herself dry, the water sliding easily off her silvery scales. She always felt better after bathing. Making her way back to her lair she spied the small piece of cloth she had rolled up and thrown out, spearing it on a talon she shrugged and wandered home with it.
Entering her lair, she stretched and wandered over to peer into the broken, speckled mirror she had found several weeks earlier. It showed an attractive young dragoness, delicately silver-scaled with a fine pair of horns that swept back from her brow and added an aristocratic look to her head. A pair of fanlike ruffs adorned the space between her perked ears and jawline and she wiggled them gently.
Checking herself over slowly she swished her tail round and made sure no loose scales marred the smooth surface of her body, stretching slowly as she turned and admired herself in the mirror.
She was old enough to realize she was attractive to males and her thoughts kept returning to the swimming human for some reason. She lit a couple of globes with a soft puff and moved to her bed of soft ferns and mosses, feeling a shiver of emotion she didn't quite understand she threw a thought out to her mother.
"Mama?" she murmured "Yes dear?" her mother replied. "what is the matter? Not liking life on your own?"
The soothing purr of her mother's voice settled Cill as she wriggled into her bed, "I don't know mama... I felt a little strange today... Sort of hot and itchy..."
Back in her own lair, her mother ran a paw down her snout with a sigh, so... her daughter was beginning to feel urges... This could be difficult.
"What were you thinking about at the time dear?' she asked cautiously as Cill idly traced a pattern in the sandy floor of her cave with a talon.
"I saw a male swimming in my pool today and all of a sudden I felt hot and my heart was thumping".
Carlina bit a talon in shock; there was a male after her daughter so soon?
This would not do! She was still too young! In her confusion she did not think to ask the species of the male, assuming it was a drake who had visited her precious ones pool.
"Did you say anything to him dear?' she asked, dancing around the subject delicately, "or did he say anything to you?".
"No Mama... I was a little scared and hid so he couldn't see me,"
Breathing a soft sigh of relief to herself Carlina relaxed on her own bed. Cill was her first hatchling with her current mate and she had felt a mothers worry when Cill had declared she wanted to find her own lair and make her way in the world.
It had not been too long since she had left so Carlina still felt a twinge of worry now and then about her. "I think its time we had a chat about males and suchlike dear", she murmured "You were so eager to move out I didn't really think about explaining it at the time"
Taking a deep breath, she began to explain the fundamentals of dragon reproduction to an increasingly wide-eyed daughter
"I knew a little about that mama", Cill replied, thinking of the human's penis. The first that she had seen other than fleeting glimpses of her fathers.
"But why should thinking about it make me hot and shivery?" Her paws unconsciously went to her chest, caressing her firm breasts gently, feeling them sent those shivers through her.
Carlina chuckled to herself "That is your body telling you its ready for mating... some lucky drake is going to bump into you one day, be smitten with you and if things happen as they should- You will have hatchlings to care for and love"
She tried to prevent the thought of how male drakes tended to react to a female in heat from slipping into her thought stream to her daughter, it could be violent and often involved more than one male vying for the right to mate.
The victor often claimed his prize by force, if blinded by battle-lust and instinct or the female was inexperienced in such situations.
Cill listened carefully and nodded to herself. Hopefully, the smelly human would not come back and it would be a proper drake that visited her pool next time.
Regretfully breaking the link to her mother, she yawned widely and settled onto her bed for a sleep, her dreams curiously full of the sights of the day while all unaware she clutched the squires hanky in a paw.
James soon found himself making a home in the Keep barracks above the mess hall. Martin had shaken his hand in greeting and shown him to a small but comfortable room where a fire was burning and supper was waiting on the table.
Tiredly he stripped out of his clothes and hung them near the fire to finish their drying; giving a yawn, he settled into the bed and was asleep in minutes.
His dreams were curiously unsettled as he kept seeing a pair of intense green eyes, sometimes they seemed to be caring and laughing at him while at others they seemed to be sneering and harsh.