Or harm to you, Miazydar said, hissing at a bemused Rylen.
“Well, here we are, ready to learn about caring for our magnificent beasts?”
It was a much smaller class, though I was surprised to see quite a few merit students attended, including Scalla. She waved energetically from the back row so I headed towards her. “Really? She’s like an overly caffeinated miffle,” Rylen said, but he tagged along, sprawling in the seat on the other side of me.
“What’s a miffle?” I whispered as we sat.
Scalla looked a little confused. “Um...they’re little and furry and oh so—.”
Delicious, Miazydar finished for her.
“Right class, today we are looking at the feeding of dragons, how to keep them happy, in good condition and how to cater to the needs of different breeds.”
Professor Hand was a big strapping woman who looked like she could help cows calve all night, then turn around and castrate steers all day. Her lecture was one of the more interesting ones. She talked about an increased need for iron, zinc and calcium in the diet of spiketails. A disturbing looking beast, it had a similar body to M’s, but its longer tail ended in a thick array of spikes which it could raise above its head, much like a scorpion, sending out clusters of knife-sharp spines as long as my forearm at will.
“Now, there’s no point lolling around in class looking at the pictures as we have Lord Alden’s own beast here. Come on, quick sticks! Down to the eyrie to take a look at the real thing.” Rylen just sighed and rolled out of class, cool as a cucumber, but Scalla was nearly jumping out of her skin.
“I love practical lessons,” she said by way of explanation, hugging herself in excitement. “We so rarely get to see the dragons close up.”
“Do you want Miazydar to ride on your shoulder?”
Are you OK with that? I said.
Better to ask forgiveness than permission? She seems harmless enough and allies are useful, no matter how gormless.
Be nice.
If she keeps her hands to herself, she’ll have no complaint from me.
“Gods above, really?” Her big brown eyes went even wider, getting suspiciously shiny as I handed him over. “Does Mizzy, I’m sorry, he hated that, didn’t he? Does Miazydar like being scratched under the chin?”
“I’m not a dog,” M said, jerking his head back with a sniff. “Though a rub behind the sockets is quite pleasurable. Watch those great clumsy digits! In this form you’re just as likely to take my eye out!”
Alden waited for us in the big open area in front of the eyries. “Milord, your dragon, if you please,” Professor Hand said. We all jumped back as the massive dragon landed in the space between Alden and us. He was bright emerald green with a faint mottling of olive across his scales.
“Taz, when you’re ready?” Alden said and Tazalith raised his tail above his head so we could see very clearly the cluster of spikes on his tail.
Showy and a waste of resources, Miazydar said with a sniff.
I wasn’t sure if I agreed. Hand passed around several spines, drawing our attention to the different patterning (linked to various breeds), cautioning us on our handling of them (they had small barbs along the length as well as needlepoint sharp ends) and the way that poor nutrition and care could be seen within the keratin of the barb.
“Those yellowish bands were once seen as desirable several hundred years ago,” Hand said. “Some f
ool neglected to round out his beasts diet and showed up to a court event with them and it came to be all the rage. Always remember, your duty is to do your best by your beast, not by whichever stupid clique you become part of. Good spiketail breeding stock became hard to come by for several generations due to those idiots and dragons died. Whether you are a dragon rider or simply a groom, it is always of utmost importance that you provide prey for the animal that meets their nutritional needs. Dragons were free-roaming omnivorous creatures before they settled in Aravisia, able to feed on a wide variety of sources. We must replicate that in our care for them.”
Shit, I thought, there're some weeks when we just ate chicken nuggets and sweet and sour sauce every day.
Mm, they were quite delicious too. What this well-meaning woman doesn’t realise is that before dragons were ruthlessly domesticated to the point of being barely able to form conscious thoughts, we could sense what foods we need to counter any possible nutritional deficiencies. That the Aravisians could coerce a dragon to tolerate the miasma that a deficiency causes to flatter their rider’s aesthetic sensibilities beggars belief. I will come and read these ‘history’ textbooks they have provided you tonight. I have no doubt they are hopelessly compromised but as an insight into what they believe they are doing, they will be invaluable.
Professor Hand then introduced us to the various herd beasts and their nutritional benefits. Tau were big, bulky creatures, a bit like cows with no horns, and their ears were more like a donkey’s. Apparently good for iron deficiencies due to their very red meat. Zaan were lean and wiry, a bit like an antelope. Must have been what M ate the other day at the Stone Circle. Full of zinc and calcium because they ate just about everything like a goat and their bones were thin enough to crunch down and digest. Lex looked kind of like an emu or ostrich but had massive meaty thighs that Miazydar said were quite the delicacy.
Hand had Alden show us how to talk a dragon through a hunt, using the bond to mentally fight his animal when his blood was up, stopping him from glutting himself on just one kind of animal, forcing it to abandon its hunt and onto another kind of animal. It was a cacophony of blood, guts, shit and screams, but Alden obviously had his dragon in hand. The big tail came up when he approached the dragon feeding, the spines separating, ready to be flung at him, but Alden’s eyes just bore into the dragon’s and Tazalith retreated, taking down a Lex in the next moment.
15
Rylen and Alden took me to the dining hall after class, Tazalith roaring his defiance over the carcass of a tau now we had finished pushing him around. Alden grabbed the arm of a passing server as we entered. “Five plates of the choicest cuts.” He turned to us. “We’ll see how she does. It’s so hard to get good help.”
“Someone told me you brought your own porters,” Grey said. “You should have them serving over here. Might finally get a decent coffee.”