"After they hatched their eggs they were like any new dragon rider. Their dragons told them their own names. Boumont's dragon was called Ent and Girl's dragon was called Bet. The two dragonlings and their masters now held some of the coveted highest positions in the Tribe. General Ima who had taken a particular interest in Boumont trained them harshly. Even though they were now of higher rank in the tribe this did not make their lives any easier. They had gone from being slaves to elevated beings with expectations. They were expected to carry the weight of honor for the Tiylin Tribe, just as any other dragon rider.
Their fire type dragons were wonderful partners. Ent had the ability to produce a rare 'everlasting flame.' He could produce one drop of magma on his tongue and drop it on any place or material and it would burn for years. This power even worked on stone. As for Bet, she was a cunning dragon, and like her partner, she possessed a wild soul. Her ability turned out to be that she could set any living creature on fire if she cut them with her claws.
As time passed the the two dragons went through their stages of metamorphosis, the two young warriors also went through many changes. Since Girl was, at that time, the only female in the ranks of the dragon warriors her life was quite dark.
She was considered too powerful of a person to be married to any man but in the eyes of the other dragon riders, she was too weak to be taken seriously or respected. She was often made to do menial chores for the other riders. She was struck by them if she did not comply with their demands and if she fought back against them she was punished for misconduct. She was also drugged often to keep her compliant and the men of the unit took that opportunity to do even more harm.
Boumont tried to prevent these incidents from happening as much as possible but there were many times it was beyond his power. He was often kept away from her in private training with the general or out on reconisons missions. Girl was never sent on missions.
Girl came to see Boumont as the only person who cared for her. Her wildness, the abuse she'd been suffering, and the influence of her dragon came together to create the perfect storm. Girl declared to Boumont one day that she was in love with him and would do anything he asked of her.
Uncomfortable with this declaration but unable to reject her completely he tried to let it be. He made it known to her that he did not feel the same way. Girl became obsessive. If anyone said a negative word about him at all they soon fell to strange accidents. If another girl so much as looked his way, by the next morning she was disfigured.
It wasn't long until all this was traced back to her, she didn't bother to hide her tracks. The chief of the tribe had no interest in addressing it and neither did General Ima. Their only solution was to send the pair off on a mission to get them away from the rest of the tribe.
Boumont was resentful, but he also couldn't abandon Girl. Their first mission was to scout the Missari Tribe and bring back information about their forces. The Missari tribe's territory was close to the Tiylin but there had never been a conflict between the two before. Missari was not as big as Tiylin, but the two tribes had longstanding respect for the other, and Missari with their plant and water-type dragons could, in the right conditions, be a match for the Tiylin should a conflict ever break out.
When they flew over the forest village of the Missari in the dead of night they landed on the other side of the village in a small clearing. The two spies dismounted and with cloaks and hoods dawned they skimmed the perimeter of the village. Boumont carefully took stock of how many dragons he could see, their types, and roughly how many people were currently in the tribe. He was almost satisfied and was about to grab Girl and lead her back to their waiting dragons when something caught his eye.
An earth dragon was sleeping near a fire, and a man who was in his thirties was lying against it sleeping peacefully.
Girl was confused as to why he had suddenly stopped. She looked from Boumont's pale face to where his eyes led to the man. She then asked a question that would change everything for them.
'Who's that?'
Boumont's answer was one that surprised Girl. Boumont was always the level-headed one, the protector, the hard worker, the man who had forsaken pride and tribe to keep them both alive more than once.
Gone was that man, in his place, was someone who had a tinge of madness in him. Girl was terrified and excited at the same time. For the first time in her life, she knew that Boumont was going to do something that would risk it all. Something that was more in her character to do.
He was going to attack without thinking.
And so he did.
Boumont drew his sword and roared. He charged the man and before anyone in that village could react the earth dragon and his rider were both headless. Screams rang out through the dark night.
Blood dripping from his sword and splattered across his chest and face Boumont was truly crazed.
From her hiding place in the brush, Girl felt a rush of excitement.
She stood and called for her dragon and stepped into the firelight herself. Grinning like a fool she stared at her love. He seemed frozen, but she knew what to do.
With glee, she cut down the first startled villager she came across. One more, two more, then three, she slashed her way to Boumont who was now watching her come to him with a blank expression. From the air, the two dragons circled their partners and awaited orders. The two dragons had come before Girl had even called. Ent especially had been worried, he'd caught something racing through Boumont's thoughts that alarmed him greatly. When he and Bet arrived it had already begun. Bet was instantly caught up in her partner's bloodlust and excitement. She swooped down in coordinated efforts to Girls. The two combined quickly murdered at least ten more villagers.
Boumont had not moved but then time was up. Dragons and their riders took to the skies and pounded the earth racing toward the disturbance. Ent and Boumont's eyes met and the dragon swooped down to get him.
As Bet and Girl's fighting style was most suited to hand to hand and claw to claw they left them to defend on the ground. As for Boumont and Ent the air was to be their battlefield.
The fight was long and brutal but in the end, the people and the dragons of Missari were lying in burning heaps across the ground.
Boumont had returned to the beheaded rider and dragon. When Girl approached him she asked.
'Who was he?'
'He was my brother.'
'I thought your bother died?' She asked.
'I had two.'
She looked at the beheaded man and dragon with uninterested eyes. 'Well, now you have none. Do you think he had something to do with it?'
Boumont answered. 'If he did he met his fate, and if he didn't he still ran away and left us to die. I couldn't help it, he was not allowed to be sitting here comfortably while our tribe is dead.'
Girl nodded and said no more.
'We made a mess. Do you think they will be mad at us?"
Boumont had no answer for her. Until this incident he'd been living day to day, surviving. He'd given up everything to survive. His pride, his dignity, his history all of it was made over to the Tiylin tribe. Girl had also given up much. He knew the things that happened in the dark, knew the things she didn't want him to know. His hatred for their current tribe was nothing new in light of this, it just wasn't something he'd allowed himself to feel until now. Even as they were they were still not better than slaves. He was ordered around and exhausted, Girl was suppressed and abused in every possible way. A higher status? That was laughable. They were just convenient tools and outlets of stress for those around them.
He didn't really care if they were mad or not, or better yet why even bother finding out? He looked around at the corpses and made a bold decision. They had done this all by themselves, he and Girl, Ent and Bet had wiped out a whole village....could they do it again?
He decided that they would try. Why was he bowing to the chief of another tribe when he and one member of his real tribe could do this all on their own?
He looked at Girl who was beaming at him, high off her battles. He shook his head as he took her in, at some point when he'd not been looking she must have started to take things from the dead. She was suddenly strapped head to toe in a myriad of weapons she didn't have before.
'I have a plan.'