At last, the house came into view for the weary Darius, or more specifically, the gate leading to Ed'heer. Given the late hour, it was of course closed, but he noticed some movement in the tower, which meant they would soon open the gate for him. He felt like stretching, but even his armour felt heavy now. He couldn't understand how Gut'tan, who was accompanying him, managed to move about so easily in full armour all day long. Only now did Bleist realise that he'd never seen the Guard without his armour. Given the circumstances, however, this was understandable.
'You can go back; I'll find my way from here,' the earl said, with a touch of humour.
'I promised the corporal I'd keep an eye on you, Colonel,' the man said, settling himself in the saddle of the Tarian. 'I wasn't to leave your side for a single step.'
'I didn't know Rex was so worried about me.' It was hard to say whether Darius should be pleased by this, or perhaps not.
'Bushtabhar has rather shown that you have to expect an unpleasant surprise at every turn,' Harven muttered. 'Anyway, I spent the whole journey back wondering if someone would ambush us.'
'The Guard?' Bleist glanced over his shoulder. 'Someone would have to be truly mad, or extremely well-prepared.'
'Or it might not be their first time,' Gut'tan shook his head. 'I saw the body of that man from the underground and heard he was from the Azure Guard. If someone dared to do it once, they might try again.'
'We'll have to find out what we're up against anyway.' A sombre tone crept involuntarily into the earl's voice. 'We've got a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow, so you should get some sleep too.' He tried to return to the original topic.
'Don't worry about me, I'll manage.' The heavily armoured man assured him with renewed vigour. 'I'll be here first thing in the morning,' he added, his voice brimming with determination.
'You don't need to rush like that.' Darius began quickly sorting through what he had to do. 'I don't think I'll be going anywhere outside Ed'heer before midday. You can rest assured.'
The Guard did not reply for a moment, but when the gate leading to the estate began to open before them, and soldiers from private units could be seen inside, Gut'tan nodded.
'In that case, good night, Colonel.' Harven bowed as far as his armour would allow and turned his Tarian around.
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Darius jumped down from Bellator and tried to stretch his legs. Before he'd finished stretching, the estate's doors opened and the servants appeared, accompanied by Oscar. Bleist was relieved to see the older man's calm expression.
'Welcome home.' The butler bowed stiffly.
'Thank you, Oscar, it's good to see you.' The colonel was sure a faint smile had flitted across his face. He didn't have the strength for anything more. 'It really is good to be back.'
'If I'd known you were coming back so soon, I'd have prepared better,' complained the elderly mage.
'I didn't know how long I'd be away either, and once I was on my way back, there was no point in giving notice.' Darius involuntarily looked around.
'The young master is in the stables and doesn't yet know you're back.' Oscar read Bleist's thoughts, of which the latter was unaware. The butler looked over the earl's shoulder at the mount, from whose back all the luggage had since disappeared. 'Once you've seen Bellator off, you're bound to meet him.' Without giving the colonel a chance to react, the old man bowed and went off to attend to his duties.
Darius suddenly found himself alone in front of the estate, wondering what on earth had happened. Perhaps he hadn't expected a particularly effusive welcome, but a brief exchange of words seemed, after all, rather unsatisfactory. What could he do? Bleist walked over to his beast and simply shook his head. He swung himself back into the saddle and headed towards the stables.
'By the way, what's Draco doing there at this hour?' he muttered to himself, but felt a tug on the reins as Bellator shook his head. 'I know you've no idea,' he had to admit, realising that, at that moment, he missed having someone to answer him. A week spent in unpleasant circumstances, in the company of nothing but Guards and soldiers, had left him longing for a casual conversation. He sighed heavily and urged Bellator on.
The stables were divided into two wings: the right one was reserved for the besses, and the left for the other mounts in Ed'heer. Interestingly, it was in the first section that he'd spotted the light. Darius headed towards the entrance.
'…you'll get dirty.' He heard the words the moment he crossed the threshold. From a distance, he recognised his apprentice's voice, which made him smile without realising it. 'Now don't wriggle about, so I can wipe you down.' It wasn't hard to guess where the dragon was, as light was coming from only one stall.
Bleist led his mount into the pen closest to the door and walked towards his pupil with curiosity. The tone of the boy's voice suggested he was enjoying himself, but it was surprising that he was tending to a bess. Still, it was good to know he'd found himself a new pastime and could take his mind off his studies and the start of the academic year looming just around the corner.
Darius stood in the entrance to the paddock and was surprised to realise he'd never before seen the pitch-black beast that was now fixing its blood-red eyes on Draco as he tried to wipe the bess's muzzle. At a glance, the creature appeared younger than the others residing in Ed'hee, and what's more, its colouring was so unusual that it was certainly memorable.
'Well, well, I've only been away a week,' Bleist remarked, somewhat provocatively.
The dragon jumped and turned round quickly. The surprise on his face quickly gave way to a broad smile. Before the boy could even speak, however, the bess standing behind him threw two paws over his shoulders and pulled him towards himself, simultaneously jutting his head towards Darius and sniffing for something in the air.
'Stop it, Fen.' Draco tried to break free, but couldn't shake off the powerful paws, though it didn't look as if he was trying very hard either. 'He's my master. Behave yourself, please.' It was an amusing sight, watching the boy try to explain something to the beast leaning against him. 'Welcome home, master,' the dragon greeted him as soon as he'd managed to persuade the beast to let him go.
'I see there have been quite a few changes whilst I was away.' Darius said with a smile. He felt like stepping closer to his pupil and greeting him properly, but Fen shot him fierce glances whenever the earl took even half a step towards the dragon. Bleist didn't need to ask to know that the beast had chosen Draco as its rider. Otherwise, it wouldn't have reacted in such a defensive manner.
It was, however, rare for a beast to form a bond with someone of the dragon's age, though it did happen from time to time. Darius himself had witnessed this on several occasions, and each time he reacted with equal surprise. He could not forget how, back in his father's day, one of the besses from Enpine had set its sights on one of the stable boys, a parthir who was barely seven at the time, as its rider. What's more, it had done so in a rather dangerous manner, suddenly leaping at the youngster and knocking him off his feet. Fortunately, the poor lad's head was protected by natural armour; otherwise, the violent collision with the cobblestones might have ended rather badly. The beast was so fierce and possessive that it would not let him stray more than two paces away from it. Tarden Joest was rather short, even for his age, so he was essentially unable to get any further away from his mount than an arm's length. Bleist remembered looking at the boy, barely a year his junior, with envy, at least until he saw in his eyes, glowing with a blue sheen, the terrible exhaustion, the sense of being overwhelmed, and the sheer terror of the whole situation.
Tarden, of course, accepted the offer to join military training in Enpine as a future cavalryman. His parents were proud of him and seized every opportunity to remind everyone around them of their son's abilities. The years passed, and unsurprisingly it turned out that the young parthir was not only excellent in the saddle, but also highly skilled with a sabre and the atavistic magic characteristic of his race. He completed his training with distinction and quickly began to climb the career ladder in the Bleist's private units. He currently held the position of deputy commander of the Ed'heer cavalry, which meant he spent most of his time in the Japanese enclave overseeing the training of the next generation of bess riders.
Darius shook off the memory and focused on his apprentice.
'Congratulations on finding your own mount,' Earl said with a smile, praising his pupil. 'I believe you have a bright future ahead of you.'
'Thank you, Master!' The dragon beamed with genuine joy. 'Fenrir, you too.' He nudged the bess with his elbow, whereupon the creature let out a somewhat reluctant guttural growl, which, in his view, was probably an expression of gratitude.
'How's the riding going?' Darius tried to move a little closer, and this time the beast did not react so violently to him. It seemed he wasn't as possessive as Tarden's bess, and it was easier to win him over.
'Slowly. . .' Draco pulled a sour face, as if recalling something not particularly pleasant. 'But I'm making progress!' he added straight away.
'I don't doubt it. You managed on horseback in Enpine, so you'll manage with bess.' Darius stood beside the student and proudly placed a hand on his shoulder. Fen snorted warningly, marking the boundary he would tolerate in his presence.
'The cavalrymen teach me something new every day,' the dragon admitted with a smile. It seemed that, alongside combat and magic, riding had become another of the lad's passions. 'Yesterday I even managed to let go of the saddle pommel and not fall off whilst galloping.'
'You're making progress, keep it up. Then again, who am I telling this to? In your case, I can be sure you put your heart into everything you do.' Bleist almost laughed when the dragon flushed crimson and began mumbling under his breath, not knowing how to react to the compliment. 'Training with the cavalry will certainly help you, but riding lessons in Solvein might prove even more useful.' Draco looked up and fixed his gaze on his master. 'There's simply more space for practice at the Academy, and there's a track as well, so you can practise many aspects of riding.'
'The master already knows that.' The dragon looked a little downcast. It seemed he'd wanted to tell Darius himself that he'd been accepted, and now he'd lost some of his enthusiasm.
'Nobody told me anything.' Bleist shook his head. 'I knew better than anyone how well prepared you were, and I had no doubt you'd get in. Congratulations, Draco,' he added proudly.
'Thank you.' The dragon's face brightened, but the blush on his cheeks deepened.
'Now let's go inside; I need to rest.' Earl laughed, brushing off the sand that was still clinging to every crevice of his armour and clothes.
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Darius didn't even have the strength to climb the stairs to his flat, so he sank heavily onto the sofa in the sitting room. Meanwhile, his pupil had rushed off to fetch a letter from Solvein. Bleist envied the dragon's boundless reserves of energy. A long sigh almost drowned out the sound of the door opening quietly. Oscar entered the room and looked at the earl with a hint of disapproval.
'I've taken care of everything; all that's left is the armour.' The butler approached Darius, watching him closely. 'It must have been hard.'
'Awful weather.' Bleist looked at the gloves lying on the table, only now realising just how filthy everything he'd arrived in was. 'I don't know how anyone can live in such heat.' He stifled another sigh, as he couldn't expect to elicit even a shred of sympathy from the butler. 'And that was just the start of the problems.' He shook his head and sprawled out on the sofa, completely forgetting that he was still covered in dust. 'Let's not talk about it.' He waved his hand, trying to brush the subject aside. Although he'd have gladly complained about everything as a whole and each thing individually, there was little he could say. Essentially, apart from his visual impressions of Bushtabhar, he couldn't say anything about his work.
'I'm here.' Draco appeared in the doorway, clutching an envelope.
He's saving me again, Darius thought with amusement. He had to admit that the dragon had a talent akin to Oscar's and always managed to turn up at the most opportune moment.
The boy nearly bumped into the table in his haste, but luckily he managed to avoid it at the last moment. He handed the letter to his master and stood there, waiting for his reaction. Bleist unfolded the page and quickly read through it, focusing mainly on the marks the dragon had achieved. They were very impressive, in some cases higher than Darius could have imagined.
'You did brilliantly,' he finally remarked. Once again, a broad smile lit up the reptile's face. That alone would be enough to make it worth going back home. 'There's still the matter of Fenrir…'
'I've already reported everything and ensured that the documents are being processed as a matter of priority,' said the silent Oscar.
'Very good. Thank you.' Bleist yawned widely, feeling the call of his bed. 'We'll practise downstairs tomorrow to see what progress you've made in that regard, but for now, it's time to get some sleep,' he concluded with a weary smile.