[stylist] Trials of an honorary Dragon. Chapter 22 (new chapter)

[helene ryles]

Chapter 22
The wrath of Beria Slyrake by Liza Bronze

 I used to think all dragons were nice.
So when Beria's dragon came to look for Nadia, I went over to offer
him a drink, as a way of distracting him from Nadia.
His response to my friendly request was to stick his nails in my
flesh, and lick the blood which flowed from my open wound.   At that
point a Bronze dragon swooped down to intervene.  He snatched me,
trying to tug me out of harms way, but Julius managed to stick his
nails into my flesh several more times as I was being pulled away.
There were a lot of angry squawking and hissing noises.  I guess the
Bronze dragon’s were driving Julius out of their private quarters, but
I didn’t see it happen as another dragon was busily dabbing a pungent
smelling ointment on my arms before binding them in several layers of
bandages to stop the blood.
It could have been worse I suppose.  At least his awful nails weren’t
stuck in my chest where they could have reached my vital organs. None
of the wounds are particularly deep either.  I just feel a little raw
in places.

Getting Nadia out of there was very tricky since Madrella was waiting
outside like a malevolent cat at a mouse hole.   Madrella couldn’t
come in herself, but we were afraid Beria may have gone to summon a
police dragon.
I don’t know how we would have got Nadia out of that mess if a kindly
female Dragon hadn’t agreed to move her hatchling from the pouch under
her belly, and put Nadia there in her place. Luckily, Nadia was small
enough to fit in the required space, along with a tape recorder that
was set to play several chirping noises in order to complete the
disguise.
Talmon saw Madrella waiting half an hour after Nadia had left.  He saw
her following us for a few yards, but she must have gone back after
realising that Nadia wasn’t with me.

Talmon took me back to Druzil.  I normally like riding on Talmon’s
back, but today I was in too much pain to appreciate much.  It was all
I could do to cling on to Talmon’s straps, with my bandaged arms, the
way they were.
Plus I could sense Talmon’s wrath. He was very angry with Julius.  His
back felt uncomfortably hot, and I kept visualising unpleasant things
that Talmon meant to do to Julius when he got to him.  What worried me
was that Julius is a lot bigger then Talmon.  I feared Talmon would
come out worse in any fight they engaged in.
I slipped off Talmon’s back on to the roof of Talmon’s home while
Talmon went to pay Julius Darth an angry visit.
"So you thought you would seduce my dragon did you?  How dare you?"
Beria snarled.
I jumped.  I hadn’t noticed her waiting on the roof.
I tried to pass her by, but I found myself rooted to the spot.
Beria came closer to me and started screaming abuse at me, right into
my speech processor.  She accused me of committing adultery with her
dragon, threatening to tell Vinny and my mother in law.
She was so angry that spit was flying out of her mouth.
“Just go ahead.  At least I‘ve got a husband unlike you, and my
husband trusts me,” I retorted back. I remembered my aunt Arielle
telling me how Beria had once had a bloke but then he heard about the
way she gets human legs for her owner.  He couldn't leave fast enough
after that.
  Beria’s response was to shower me with blows until I lost consciousness.


                 ***  ***  ***

I came round to the various hospital scents.  My body ached. I could
only guess that Beria had added a few broken limbs to the marks that
her dragon had made.
“How are you?” signed a familiar pair of hands.  To my relief, it was
my husband Vinny.  He had come to see me.
“We’ve been very worried about you, ever since Beria told mother you
had committed adultery with her dragon.  She was very annoyed when
mother got angry with her, and not you.  We trust you.  You wouldn‘t
do a thing like that would you?” my husband signed.
“No, of course not,” I agreed.
“There, I knew she was lying.  What a nasty piece of work she is…” he
spelt out in gentle caressing strokes.
“Is Nadia ok?” I asked.
“Please don‘t worry about Nadia.  She is being taken care of.   Relax
now, my mother and I will nurse you back to health.”
“But I need to know how Nadia is?”
  “I’ll ask someone to pay you a visit,” he assured me.
But nobody came to visit me about Nadia.   So I was left to worry
about her incessantly.


I also fretted about Beria.
It must have been during my parachute training that I first realised
just how much Beria hated me.  I was still wearing my speech processor
at the time.   I usually took it off when I do the jumps so it won't
get damaged, but I wanted to discuss something with Beria and the
instructor before I did so.
"I really don't think it's safe with her sight and hearing impairments
to be jumping solo," the instructor said.    I was waiting for a
chance to speak to him.
"Who cares?  She's signed the waiver.   If she doesn't survive the
jump I'll just scrap her remains off the ground and feed them to my
owner," Beria replied.   She sounded so indifferent.  It really cut me
up.  I turned right round and found the nearest loos.  I spent a long
time crying in there that day.

Then Beria started pressurizing me into selling her my legs.
“I hate to break it to you, but you will never get into the police
force without mastering your parachute jumps,” she gleefully informed
me.
“And there is no way round that?” I asked her.
“None that I can think of unless…” Beria replied, letting the sentence
hang unfinished.
“Unless what?” I asked with a hope.
“Unless you give up your legs and sell them to my dragon,” She
suggested smoothly.
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
“Your father makes those enchanted prosthetic legs doesn‘t he.   If
you bought a pair of those I could then cast a spell on them to make
them move in the right position on landing.  It’s the only way you
will ever get the job,” she told me.
“I’ll have to discuss it with Talmon,” I replied.
“Talmon doesn’t have to come in to it,” she snapped.
“I can't possibly go against Talmon's wishes,” I told her bluntly.
“Then I suggest you look into an alternative career.  Have you thought
of basket making?” Beria taunted.  With that she turned and left.

I knew Talmon would never agree, but I didn't expect him to be quite
so angry about it.   He flashed several angrily images into my head of
how Dragon’s like Julius were damaging interspecies relations between
man and dragon.  He felt the practice should be completely outlawed
and those that robbed humans of their legs, whether in Darthrila or
overseas should receive stiffer penalties.
Then he commanded me never to give up my legs to Beria or Julius,
under any circumstances. It was the first time he has ever given me a
direct command in this way. So I promised him that I wouldn’t sell my
legs, which all things considering, was a very easy promise for me to
make, for I am much attached to all my limbs.
Next Talmon went over to Julius Darth in a blazing fury.  He more or
less demanded that Beria gave me work as a police officer or else he
would severe all ties and let the world know that people were being
unfairly pressurized to give up their legs,  just so certain dragons
could indulge in unethical eating habits.

After I joined the police force, Beria really got nasty.  I became the
butt of all her most unpleasant jokes.
I remember crying in the toilets when one of the officers came to
suggest I leave my job.
"Sorry Liza, but you are not welcome here.  It would be better if you
left," she advised.
I shook my head stubbornly.
"Be reasonable.  Beria will just make life as unpleasant as she can.
The dragons don't often allow humans to join any of their clans, or
allow them into their private quarters.   Beria would do anything to
be alowed to become a Darth.   Then you, as an imperfect human, are
given something that she really wants.  She hates that.  Beria is just
going to keep knocking you down until you leave,” She told me.
I shook my head again, in irritation.  I wished she would mind her own
business and leave me to cry in peace.
"You don't even need this job as a police officer.  My owner would
like to see more of you at the Bronze private quarters.  He keeps
talking about how beautiful you are.  If you offer them your services
full time, I'm sure they will take you up on it.  You are more suited
to that line of business, rather then being a police officer.  The
dragons like their privacy, so your limitations are an asset as far as
they are concerned.   You're just what they want..."

It's not that I don't like entertaining dragons.  In fact I like it
very much.   It's just not what I consider a career.
Most of the time, I just sit and wait.    Sometimes the dragons will
ask me to talk to them using sign language. I do belly dancing for
their entertainment too.  They have a swing and a zip wire which I
use.  It is the closest I can get to flight.
Sometimes a dragon will come and lick me clean with their dry abrasive
tongues. It feels so nice when they do that. Sort of like when my
growling shepherds give me a wash, only dry and scaly rather then wet
and furry.
It’s come to my attention that Beria has been spreading rumours about
me engaging in other activities or a more sexual nature, but I can
assure you that none of them are true.  They are just the warped
fantasies of a jealous and malicious woman.
Somehow her hatred for me had affected Nadia.
She was prepared to put Nadia in danger with Madrella, knowing full
well what Madrella was capable of, just to spite me.
Knowing this made me fear for Nadia’s safety, all the more right now.