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My name is Connor. Some call me Connor the dragon slayer, or they would if I could get them to. I am in the Guard, and I have killed more dragons than any other, save the commander himself. Twenty-three. I use the sword primarily, and no, my sword does not have a name. I’m not one of those men who name their… oh man, greatest joke ever, I cannot wait to tell my friend Art. Anyway, yeah so I’m pretty good with the sword. I’ll tell you the trick to killing dragons. The dragons have really only one weapon, there venom, and since I am already inflicted the only way they could hatch me, is if I got a kiss from one of them. So you wait until they attack you from the side and are about to lay a kiss on you, and then, whack, you slice the head right off. Do not tell any off the other guards my secret, okay. It is not just that I want my record passed, the more dragons dead the better, in my book. It is just that if you told it to the guard, when they hatch they would remember. The dragons keep there human memories, and then turn it against us. How was I inflicted? Well, my father changed first. I am from the village West Gail, and we lived within the walls there. They got my father on a dragon night, and when the next storm came, so did he. This was a year ago. Well, he got my sister, who sleeps by the window, first. He kissed her, she hatched, and then he got my mother. I remember he breathed on me. His breath smelled like gooseberries because dragons do not eat meat. So I got infected from his breath, and now I am destined to turn Dragon. Most of the guards would say it is a plus, because when you are infected you get magic. Whippee! See the venom gets in your blood, and the more magic you use the less strength your human blood losses, and the quicker you turn dragon. I used up my magic Killing my family. I mean my first three dragons. Now I only have one pin left, one trick and I turn to what I hate most of all. My blood is as blue as any I have seen come from a dragons neck. I could hatch at any moment. You haven’t seen it, you don’t know how fast it could come. I’m clinging to my humanity here by shear strength of my will, or stubbornness, I guess. So I am sixteen, and don’t tell me I’m young. You be in as many battles as I have, and see how young you are. I have earned the right to be called a man, and you need to show me that kind of respect. I have brownish red hair, and brown eyes. My eyes have blue in them. The dragon in me is peaking through. I think if you cut my leg you would see scales. My greatest fear? Umm... That the dragons are right to change us. That the world would be better, if we just let go of humanity and all grew scales. That I killed my family for no reason.
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited August 29, 2008).]
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Hi Connor I'm so sorry for you. It must be a terrible burden to carry the loss of your family and know that you couldn't save them. Does that happen often? Where a Guardsman has to kill loved ones?
What would happen if you decided not to kill the Dragons? Would the just immediately change you? Have you tried to talk to them? Do they talk?
Where do they live (the Dragons)? Do they have towns and houses? Where do you live? Are the many Guards? How long will you be a Guardsman?
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Usually we Guard look out for another. We don't make people kill their own family, not unless it is absolutely neccessary. You know you or them. Most won't make that choice. I didn't know what I was doing when I killed them. I didn't know I would get Magic if a dragoon breathed on me. I mean what would you do if you were alone in your house except for three dragons looming in on you. I just Covered my head, and my fear feed the magic, And I lit up the room. Click, like turning on a light. and then three dragons who used to be my family lay toasted on the floor smelling like roast lamb. No I wouldn't change to dragon if I dropped out of the Guard. But I don't hunt them, or kill them like a crazy person. I'm in the Guard. We guard the red bloods, or Humans, and we only kill the dragons who come within the walls. See, there is a truce between us and the dragons, and we mostly keep it. Dragons do talk, but not to me. The commander talkes to one. an emissary from the dragon king Olrick, or something. The dragons live to the south of us in a town called Ellery. The Guard made a raid there like thirty years ago. They have a lot of treasure and the comfortable things the humans are lacking. I live in the town Arowyn. The dragons took it because of the people of Arowyn had the strongest blood, and make the best dragons, or something. The dragons took it, but we took it back. I sleep in the barracks there, and eat in this massive kitchen. It used to be a hotel, but we converted it for the single men. The married men live with their families in one of the houses. There is a court yard, and a practice arena for sword fighting. We grow some of our food, and ask for what we might need extra from the towns we protect. There are about sixty guards in total, and we have our Commander. He has been Commander for thirty three years, he is ancient for a guard. Usually a guard lives for about a year or so, it depends on how much he can resist using the magic, and the strength of their blood. No one other than the Commander has ever lived past five years before hatching. The Commander has Arowyn blood. Me, I plan on being a guard until I die. I promised the commander that I would kill myself before I turn dragon, and I plan to keep that promise. I would hate to hurt my fellow guards, or God forbid a human. I only live now to protect humanity. I think if I was to give it up and cook food or something I would go crazy. It helps me to have a mission. The hunting is fun though. Thanks Leslie. ~Connor
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quote:So I got infected from his breath, and now I am destined to turn Dragon.
Is this something you tell people all the time? I could picture that as a way of getting the heckler at the local tavern to shut up: "Hey, man, leave me alone or I'm going to burn and raze your village when I get my wings!"
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We in the guard joke about that kind of thing all of the time, but just to each other. Mostly it is along the lines of making bets on who will get to kill my friend Art when he hatches. He is the local heckler here among the guards. It doesn't work too well though, nothing under an order from the Commander will make Art be quiet.
We wouldn't joke like that with the humans though. The humans don't know we are half dragon already. They wouldn't let us in the walls if they knew that.
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So let me get something straight. To be in the guard you have to be infected, right? Can you recognize an infected person and recruit them? Or do you let the humans join your ranks, and then when they get infected during a fight, you let them in on the little secret?
How is it for the guards who are married? Seems like a huge risk to live with non-guards; what if one of them hatched while at home with their family? How do they keep this huge secret from their wives?
I don't imagine the single guards often get married after they've been infected, do they? Short life expectancy... (Yet I know of a girl who is thinking about it.) Would you like to marry, have a family of your own?
Can an infected person still father a child? Is that child pure red-blood?
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited August 31, 2008).]
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You must be brave. I don't know how you live like this, knowing that a monster lurks within you, waiting for the chance to stretch its wings. I would be terrified!
You say you will kill yourself before you hatch: but how will you know? Are there any warning signs; smoke curling out of your nostrils, sprouting wings, that sort of thing? Do you have any control over it at all?
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There are signs of infection yes. Blue toned blood, eyes that light up, and strange things often happening around them. Humans have tried to join our ranks, but if they don't have blue blood we usually kick them out. Sometimes the commander asks his emissary to change the human, like if that human has special skills or something. But that is very rare. I have never seen it done. The guards who are married don't have to keep that secret from their wives. Most of the wives are infected too, and the children. Sadest thing you will ever see is an infected child. How could the parent stop the child from using magic? If a guard is married it gives him on average a longer life expectancy. More to live for, I guess. Makes the fight more worth it. No, Single guards don't often marry. To complicated. There are lots of human girls who would like to give it a go though. My friend Art has a girl in about every town to canodle with. Me though, I am not really that kind of man. When it comes to girls, I haven't really been battle tested. Never kissed a girl before. Oh man, my ears are all red. Would I like a girl of my own, sure. Some one to make my life less bleak, and bring some kind of...sunshine to this dank life. But I wouldn't ask a girl to trudge through it with me. That wouldn't be fair to her. An infected person could father a child, and I've seen it done. Well, not the actual act. Snort. I mean a .. you get it. The infant doesn't usually last more than a few weeks before it hatches. So defensless, and small, it can't even fly. I don't know anyone who could kill an child dragon, myself included. Awful. An infected woman could have a human child though if the father was human. I don't know why that is.
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Hey thanks marchpane, I like to think I'm brave. Maybe Connor the brave would stick better than Connor the dragon slayer, I will have to try it out. Good Call. Although I doubt it would stick, anyone in the guard is brave then by your definition. It is mostly just living life. I could say you are brave to drive one of them automobiles, what with people dieing in them daily. But no, you would probably just say that it is just part of life, maybe even a ho hum part of life, that you do without thinking. You forget the fear that you had when you were new and learning, and you just do it. At least that is how it is for me. You can get used to anything, I guess. The commander told me about hatching. He has seen it done enough that he knows. See there is a moment when you are about to hatch, before the dragon grows into your brain, that you have knowledge about what is happening and the power to stop it. I am not the only one the commander has asked, and it usually is successful. The exception always means more work for the guard. So I will know, and then I will use my sword. That is the plan. Across the neck, or in the heart, whichever is quickest.
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posted
Hey, Kid! Sam Kent here. I think I saw a dragon running around here earlier...Care to give us a demo?
Nah, I'm just messin with you, sixteen isn't young. I was sixteen when I dropped out of highschool and got my GED. Everyone was riding me about it, too. But, I bet they shut up when they see your kill count, huh? In America, we use something called USDollar to measure up who has 'killed the most dragons'. Do dragon slayers keep trophies for kills? Did you know all of the 23 dragons you slayed? What do you do with the rest of the Dragon? Sounds like good eats to me. What happens if you turn into a dragon physically, but maintain your humanity? Wouldn't that just suck? I mean, really, how do you know your family wasn't saying "No! wait, it's me,. Conner!" in dragon before you slayed them? Are they all evil or are you just living in a speciesist society?
Man, you gotta tell me, the girls who are going dragon... I bet they're HOT! Ha! Are there any girls on the watch that you like to watch?
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The USDollar huh Sam? is that thing hard to kill? What does it look like? Oh, my author is telling me that is your currency. Here we use coins. There are all kinds of coins different sizes and colors, but they all count for the same thing. We call them pennies. One pennie could buy a bushel of apples, or one candle. Some of the guard keep trophies, or the like. They collect the dragons incisor on a necklace around the neck. Me though, I couldn't stand having anything dragon touching me. Plus, I think men who wear jewlery are sissies. No offence Sam. No wait those are hand cuffs. My bad. I don't go around talking to dragons much, and if I know one they don't have much time to let on. I like to think that when a person hatches they are dead and gone. I have seen dragons hatch though, and resist the need to hatch someone they really love, so I guess a part of the person lives on. Like their human will can control their senses. I think of that when I am afraid of hatching. If I do hatch, maybe I will be able to control myself. I am strengthening my will however futile it is for me to keep on living. The commander tells me they aren't all evil. He says that if I do hatch I should go straight to the Dragon town Ellery. He says there are some civilized dragons there, not like the nomads that roam through the forests here. I doubt it though. To me the only good dragon is a dead dragon. I don't get the pun Sam. Dragons here are hurt by flames, and light. They don't breath fire like in your stories. If they did it would be suicide for them. And even I won't call a dragon stupid. They are too smart. You obviously haven't gone up against them. Which is not to say you couldn't, I have been reading your posts sam and I think you got a raw deal. I would tell them to believe you but they would probably lock me up too for believing in dragons. Then I would hatch on them, and you and me could make a break for it. There are no girls on the watch. This is a man's job. I don't know any girl strong enough. See female blood is usually weaker, less resistant to the dragon blood. There are several infected woman here in Arowyn. They cook for us, and mend our uniforms, that kind of thing. If those cooks came after the dragons though, I bet they would use all of their magic hiding. A female guard would have to be amazingly strong, and you better believe I would watch her.
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I am sorry, but do you mean there is a dragon here? Now, I am trying to be polite, and keep my sword in its hilt, but if a dragon even sniffs in this direction, you had better duck and run away. Now I mean this polietly Ida. It's for your own good. I don't want She who must be obeyed to snap me, and I think she would if I got blood all over her handy website.
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/* old lady stomps in, floral dress flapping around her hairy legs */
Wait, Do you mean you can change from a dragon back to a human? That kind of knowledge could save my world, Is that something you could tell me? Please, Ida.
I appologize for threatening to kill you. You are welcome here as long as you keep your breath to yourself.
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited September 03, 2008).]
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Breath, indeed! One look and I could toast that Sam Kent guy. *Looks around for Sam* Don't go believing his side of the story. *whispers* Even his Writer admits he's slimy!
But what do I know, anyone can change his tune, right? I won't really hurt him.
Certainly I can change from human to dragon and back. I'm afraid I can't help you with your dragon troubles, 'cause I'm not like your dragons. In my world, we're all good nowadays. Well, as good as a body can be. Say, is it possible that your dragons could return to human form too?
You sure none of your dragons are decent sorts? Your commander must be on to something there, even if it's not what you want to hear, hmm?
--Ida
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited September 03, 2008).]
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