Maev and the Dragon Quest

Bengt had the worst luck. His father, who his mother had told him had been a great knight, was killed in the Battle of Antiok leaving behind him, his brother and mom. Then his brother up and left them as soon as he was of age. So, it was just Bengt and his mom with the stories of his father and the occasional visit by his brother when he needed money or a place to crash. Bengt’s mother worked all sorts of odd hours as a nurse at the regional hospital, which left him pretty much alone to his own devices and imagination. That imagination helped get him into trouble and caused him to get kicked out of every school he attended.  

And now he was here, at the Morroia School of Spells & Incantations. Sure, his other schools were stuffy and full of know-it-alls and wankers. But this one took it to a whole different level. They turned their noses up at anyone that couldn’t control the elements of magic. The fact that magic users held a high station in society in the CommonWealth regardless of their heritage, wealth or lot in life just further increased their arrogance.  

It was here that he met Maev Caitrín Sekhmet. Or more precisely, she had stalked him down. His mother had enrolled him at Morroia after getting kicked out of his last school where he had made the All-CommonWealth Upper School Dragon Racing Team after finishing the championship race in the least amount of time and taking the yellow jersey. He was also the leader of the CommonWealth under-14 Dragon Racing national team. But he had to leave his dragon behind because it belonged to his old school. If he wanted to keep racing at Morroia and for the national selection team, he needed a ride. Maev didn’t have a jockey so while he didn’t like the idea at first because she had never raced before he took her on. 

Sure, there had been bumps along the way. He practically had to teach her how to fly! Which he thought was odd because dragons learnt how to fly as hatchlings. But then things turned the corner and fast. In one of their races, it had been particularly stormy, and they had been hit by lightning. From then on it was as if they were connected. They didn’t have two separate thoughts or actions when they were close to each other. Instead, it was as if they were now one person. Every thought, every emotion, even their past experiences were shared across this bond. 

Some of her memories, he had thought at the time, were a bit odd or at least out of place. There were snapshots of an Exemian man and woman who he knew she thought of as her mother and father which was the furthest thing from reality given that Exemians were humanoids, not dragons! There was the tiny village that she grew up in. Her small group of close friends, none of whom were dragons. 

But now it all made sense! Maev had never been a dragon. She had switched bodies with this girl dragon, Erylis. The problem now was that Erylis’ father had kidnapped Maev thinking it was his daughter. Bengt normally wouldn’t care what happened to anyone but himself but this bond he now shared with Maev made it impossible to stop thinking about her. But it was more than that. He felt a hole in himself. Like he was starving but no matter how much he ate he would never be full. He never felt this way when they were physically close to one another. It was like his senses were now on high alert searching for her all the time and it left him exhausted. 

Now he found himself partnered up with Erylis, in Maev’s Exemian body, trying to find help so that he could rescue Maev from a kingdom that the CommonWealth was currently waging war, Vestroya. What made it even worse was that the connection he had with Maev seemed to extend to Erylis. Whenever they got close that tingling feeling would ramp up. And when they touched it was like an electric shock running through his body that both hurt and was exhilarating at the same time. Yes, he certainly had a string of rotten luck indeed. 

 “Where are we going?” Bengt asked Erylis.  

“You want to save your friend then we’re going to need help,” responded Erylis as the two made their way through the school.  

“She’s not my friend,” Bengt corrected her. “And if we’re going to save her then shouldn’t we be going to the spaceport? I thought you said you knew someone that could help us.” 

“And I do. Now stop asking questions and trust me,” Erylis said assertively.  

The two rounded the corner and turned into a classroom. At the front of the classroom writing on the chalk board was a man with a cropped white beard and wisps of hair dangling sparingly across his head dressed in a lightweight woolen checked sports coat with worn brown leather elbow patches, a blue pinpoint dress shirt, with a left-to-right red striped tie, tan wool trousers and cognac leather wingtips. He turned and peered out over his reading glasses at the two students. 

“Professor Abergavenny! That’s who’s going to help us? I fall asleep in his class before it even starts!” Bengt said. 

Erylis ignored Bengt and approached the professor. 

“While it’s a pleasure ta see yew Ms. Sekhmet I don’t believe this is yur class period. And yew, Mr. Skara Brae, I believe yew still owe me an essay on the unique features of a brass dragon’s lair and how ta discern the distinction between that of a blue dragon.” 

“Yes, Professor Abergavenny,” groaned Bengt. “Let’s go,” Bengt insisted as he tugged on Erylis’ sleeve. 

“We’re actually here for another reason Professor,” offered Erylis. 

“Yes, and whut might that be?” Abergavenny said as he set down the chalk and moved over to his desk in the far corner of the room. 

“We need your help to get off of Iraxto and find safe passage to Haut-Rhin,” Erylis said quickly as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 

“Well, that is a rather extraordinary request indeed,” Abergavenny observed in his thick honeyed voice. “And whut would be the purpose of this rather dangerous voyage?” 

“We need to rescue Maev.” 

“Wait, Professor, you know about Maev and Erylis?” Bengt's asked incredulously to which Abergavenny chuckled. 

“Professor Abergavenny isn’t really a professor,” admitted Erylis. “He’s Chancery of the Order in my father’s court and my sworn protector.” 

Bengt looked between Abergavenny and Erylis in utter disbelief then sat down at a desk. 

“Ms. Sekhmet, I don’t think this is the proper time or place to have this discussion.” 

“Anker, we need to go, and we need to go now. Don’t ask me how but I can feel that Maev’s scared. Something, something bad happened when she was taken to Vestroya.” 

“But yur life is here now. Gettin' away from everything yur father had put on yew. Whut about that?” 

“I can’t let someone else take all that on. And even if Maev could, she’d never be able to fool my father. At some point he’ll learn the truth and who knows what he would do to her.” 

Anker nodded solemnly. 

“So be it. Gather whut things yew can for the voyage. I have a vehicle that can get us at least part way there. I’ll meet yew out front in five minutes.” 

Anker got up and walked out of the room leaving a confused Bengt and Erylis alone in the room. 

“Is Professor Abergavenny a dragon too?” Bengt asked. 

“We don’t have much time. I’ll explain on the way. Go to your room and gather only what you think you’ll need,” Erylis said. 

The two went to their rooms, gathered their belongings, and quickly made their way to the entrance to the school. Anker waited by a saloon styled vehicle with a low-lying body with the "face" dominated by a low radiator grille framed by ice block headlamps, a long hover wheelbase and wide body, sloping roofline and a boot lid hinged below the back window and two doors on the side. 

“It’s a Tråkigt,” Bengt said disparagingly. “How on Earths is that piece of junk going to get us to Vestroya?” 

“Well, first off, this here is a 9-5 NG made by the Tråkigt Bilföretag known for their safety, Ruotsi heritage and their crisp, clean design. I’ve made some slight modifications so whilst it won’t get us all the way to Vestroya, true, it’ll serve ta get us ta where we need ta go. The second part is yur not goin’ anywhere,” Anker finished jabbing a finger at Bengt. 

“What? Are you kidding me? Listen, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t step one foot in that, but I’ve got this thing that is making me go all loopy,” Bengt said pointing at his head, “that I can’t shake until I get Maev back here and I’m not leaving it to the two of you to do it on your own.” 

“The lad’s not ready for this my Lady. He’s just a hatchling with no training for whut needs to get done,” Anker said in a low voice to Erylis. 

“I know but he could be of some use. That connection he has with the girl. I-I've felt it,” she said glancing over at Bengt before quickly turning back to Anker. “He could be of some use to locate her.” 

“Why are the two of you talking like I’m not standing right here? I’m going!” Bengt persisted. 

“Fine,” conceded Anker. “Get in, but don’t expect any help if yew get inta trouble. We get in, get the girl and get out. Understood?” 

“Yessir!” Bengt said giving a half-hearted salute. 

“I’m gonna regret this,” Anker murmured darkly as he got into the transport. 

“Relax Anker. Besides, what could go wrong?” Erylis said with as much cheer as she could muster. 

The three got into the vehicle and at once took off sending Erylis and Bengt back into their seats. 

“I didn’t think a Tråkigt could go this fast,” Bengt gasped as he hurriedly pulled on his harness. 

“Like I said. I made some modifications.” said Anker grinning. 

“Right then, what in all did you bring?” Erylis asked Bengt. 

Bengt slid his musette bag around from his shoulder, unbuckled it and pulled out several items. 

“Energy bars, gel packs, a bottle of water, gloves, a winter hat, gum and a wand?” Erylis said incredulously. 

“What? You said to bring what I’d need. These are a few of the things I bring with me when I compete in a Century Tour. That’s a really long race.” Bengt added for clarification when he saw Erylis’ confused expression. 

“This isn’t a long race Bengt. There isn’t going to be a broom wagon to come along to help you or a Commissaire to judge if someone doesn’t follow the rules. This is going to be dangerous. For you especially.” 

“Have you ever raced before?” 

Erylis shook her head. 

“Well, while I’m surprised you actually know anything about racing what you don’t know is on those long races there’s more that goes on than what they show on the cameras. A rider needs to know how to handle themselves when things get out of hand. And they do, a lot.” 

“It’s not the same Bengt. If things go wrong, you’re going to need something to help you in a fight,” Erylis said fretful. 

“That’s why I have this!” Bengt said holding up his wand. 

“What I recall from Maev’s memories weren’t you failing Intro to Wizardly Tools & Instruments?” 

“I was failing until Maev finally let me start copying off of her.” Bengt said with a smile. He then turned and looked out the window. 

“Omigods! Are we, are we in outer space already?” asked Bengt breathlessly. 

“You’ve never been off planet before?”  

“I-I've never been out of Antiok before. I just, I just never thought it would be so...so...big!,” Bengt answered shakily as he leaned over and started dry heaving. 

As Erylis patted Bengt’s back she began to have second thoughts about bringing him but as their ship started to accelerate into Quantum, she knew turning back now wasn’t an option.