Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 007 - Learning to Hunt

Kaen took a breath and let it out.  Hess had told him how dangerous it was to share this information long ago or to ask someone else for theirs.  He knew it was not something Hess would ask lightly.  For Hess to ask must mean something had changed.

Full Status Check

*****

Kaen Marshell - Adolescent

Age  - 16

HP  - 126/126 (5%)

MP - 0/0 (5%)

STR - 14 (5%)

CON - 13 (5%)

DEX - 16 (5%)

INT - 11 (5%)

WIS - 9 (5%)

Blessings:

Dragonbound - 5% current bonus to all stats

*****

Kaen stood there in shock.  All of his stats, but his wisdom had gone up!

“I have a five percent bonus showing by all my stats!” Kaen stated excitedly.  “Even my health has gone up!”

Hess nodded and put his hand on Kaen’s shoulder to settle him down.

“Look at me, boy!”

Kaen stopped moving around and looked at Hess, who had his serious face on.

“Those numbers will go up the bigger Pammon gets.  I do not know the complete details, but I know adult dragons and their dragon rider can have stats far beyond anything a normal adventurer can achieve.  A single experienced dragon rider can wipe out an army on their own.”  Hess paused for a moment before adding, “Without aid from their dragon.”

Kaen was in shock to hear that.  To know that someday he would possibly be that strong was unbelievable.

“Guard that dragon with your life.  Keep him a secret and make sure he learns to obey you this week!”

Hess turned and walked out the front door and down the dirt path that led toward town.

“Make sure you get enough food for the whole day and keep him out of sight!”

Kaen watched Hess walk away.  He was in shock from finding out that he had gotten stronger without doing anything but forming a relationship with Pammon. It felt unreal.

Kaen started whistling a merry tune as he shut the door and started heading toward the forest.  He had a job to do.

The week had disappeared in a blink.  Each day became easier as Pammon knew what to expect and learned that Kaen would not be swayed when he gave a command.  By the third day, Pammon stopped testing Kaen and simply obeyed his instructions.

Pammon had grown considerably in a week already and had put on at least fifteen pounds.  Then again, he was eating a lot more.  On the fifth day, he ate two deer in total, as Kaen had managed to get lucky and find one in the morning and the afternoon.

Hess had kept everyone from the quarry away, and no one in town had felt the need to test whatever sickness Hess told them Kaen had.

One week later, Kaen and Hess stood outside in the backyard in the morning while Pammon did his usual morning duty.

“That stuff is fertilizing gold.  Make sure you put that in the compost pile with the rest.”

Kaen groaned.  Each day Pammon’s pile of crap got bigger and bigger as he ate more.  Occasionally it was not solid, and moving it to the compost pile was probably one of the worst chores Kaen ever remembered having.

“I’m not sure that stuff is worth the smell.”

Hess laughed and pointed to the garden he had on the side of the house.

“Are you kidding me? Look at those tomatoes! They are growing faster and bigger than should be possible! It makes them grow in a fourth of the time!”

The plants did look better than they ever had, and the apple tree had perked up after Hess added some to the base of its trunk a few days ago.

“If that dragon of yours weren’t such a pain to keep fed, I would go into the fertilizer business and get out of the rock business.”

“Speaking of feeding him,” Kaen interrupted, ”are you sure about taking him out today?”

Hess nodded and handed Kaen the bow and quiver.

“It’s time.  He needs to learn, and you two need to get out of the house.  It smells like a dwarf's sweaty ball sack in there.”

Kaen laughed, attached his quiver to his belt, and took the bow.

“What will you tell everyone at the quarry?”

“That you will be back in two days.  Make sure Pammon knows how to hunt so he can stay in the woods while you are at the quarry.  Now go, I cannot be late today.”

Kaen whistled for Pammon, and the dragon turned and looked at him.

Coming.

Kaen led the dragon into the woods at the edge of their farm.  He knew something was up with Hess by the way he had said he could not be late today.  Someone must be coming from the house that owns the quarry.

“Be quiet and stay still!” Kaen whispered at Pammon, who was doing his best not to move even though he was flooding Kaen’s mind with his thoughts.

Hungry! Kill rabbit!

Kaen nodded and pulled his bow back.  He judged the distance and let the arrow fly, piercing the rabbit.

“Now you can get it.”

Pammon darted toward the dead rabbit and quickly covered the distance between him and the dead rabbit.  He no longer waddled so much like a duck as he moved toward his meal.  His running had smoothed out after he had figured out how to hold his wings to help balance himself.

Hess had no idea when the Pammon would learn to fly but that he should be able to within the first month.

Two deer had gotten away because Pammon could not contain his excitement at such a large meal.  It had taken multiple rabbits to fill Pammon up.

“We need you to learn how to hunt and fly,” Kaen said as he slowly ran his fingers up and down the rugged ridges forming along the top of Pammon’s head.  “I need to know if you can breathe fire or something else.”

Fly soon.  Fire later.

Kaen glanced at Pammon.  His dragon was sitting still, staring at him.

“You know how to fly and breathe fire?”

Soon. Too weak.  Need food.

Kaen could not believe how much better Pammon was getting at communicating.  This, however, was a new step in their ‘talks.’  Before, Pammon would only talk when he was hungry or needed to take a crap or sleep.  Occasionally he still mentioned killing the chicken at the house.

“How much do you understand when I talk?”

Most. I sense… feel… you.

“You know what I want by what I feel?”

Yes.

Kaen went back to stroking Pammon’s ridges and listening to him trill with pleasure.  He could tell when Pammon was happy or hungry, or upset.  He had not considered that Pammon could do the same with him.

“You need to learn to hunt.  Once you can do that, I can let you roam the woods near where I work.  You can get stronger while I work.  Do you understand?”

I hunt. You watch.

Kaen laughed and motioned for Pammon to take the lead.  He stayed a few yards behind and watched as Pammon sniffed and glanced around the woods.  His brown copper scales helped him to blend into the ground as he slinked around the woods.

Rabbit!

Kaen froze and tried to locate the rabbit Pammon was talking about.  He couldn’t see it, but Pammon was slowly stalking like a cat through the woods.  Suddenly he pounced and sprinted toward a few trees, and Kaen saw a brown rabbit bolt across the base of the woods.

Pammon ran along the floor after it, weaving around trees and bounding over bushes and other obstacles.  Suddenly he pounced on a spot, and dirt started flying through the air. The rabbit had gone into a hole, and Pammon was digging after it.

Kaen ran closer and watched as a stream of dirt flew behind Pammon and started to pile up on the ground behind him.  He could feel the thrill that Pammon was experiencing.  A weird urge seemed to drive Pammon on, and excitement at the possibility of his first solo kill seemed to exude from him.

A few more moments passed, and suddenly Kaen knew that Pammon was successful.  He could feel the joy coming from him.

I killed it!

“Great job!  You did great!”

Pammon turned around, holding the bloody rabbit in his mouth.  His face and scales were covered in dirt, but it almost looked like he was smiling.  Kaen smiled and nodded at Pammon, who then gulped down the rabbit and let out a loud trill.

Again!

Hess saw the smoke drifting up into the air from the chimney as he got to the edge of his property.  It meant Kaen was cooking, and something smelled terrific as the wind blew toward him.

“I’m home,” Hess called out as he got to the porch and stomped his boots to remove as much dirt and dust as possible.

The door swung open just as he finished taking his boots off.  Hess turned to see Kaen grinning at him like a fool.

“How was the quarry?”

Hess laughed and shook his head.

“Breaking rocks is a pleasure I miss.  I would prefer to do that instead of listening to the head of the Franstum house complain about us not meeting our quota last week.  I informed him our best worker was out with a terrible infection of Cramduncunkle, and he wanted me to send you his best wishes to get well soon personally.  If I’m not careful, he might offer you a raise.”

Kaen laughed and moved back inside the house.  Hess knew that Kaen was cooking more than what he had left him.

“I guess that proves just how valuable of a worker I am and that I do deserve a raise!”

Hess rolled his eyes and ignored Kaen’s statement.

“Is that venison I smell?”

“It is.  I managed to get one as Pammon chased it.  He did well today.  He managed to catch seven rabbits on his own.”

Pammon was lying on the floor near the fire, and he raised his head and gave a small trumpet sound from his throat.  Hess heard him and laughed.

“Well, that is good to know.  Tomorrow you can spend one more day together.  After then, you will need to return to work.”

Hess picked up a piece of fruit off the table and took a bite.  The apple tasted so much better since he had used that fertilizer from Pammon’s crap around the tree.

“After this week at work, you are going to hate the weekends.  We are going to start training to prepare you for the adventurer's test.”

Kaen nodded, went to the fire, and stirred the pot he had sitting off to the side near it.

“If Pammon can learn to hunt, he might be able to get us a little extra meat during the week.”

Hess sat down at the table and held out his hand toward Pammon.  Pammon’s head popped up, and he started sniffing the air and moved till his nose was next to Hess’s hand.

Pammon let out a screech and started to wiggle in anticipation. Hess laughed as he turned his hand over and showed a red cube to Pammon, who sniffed it before quickly snapping it out of Hess’shand.

Hess reached over and scratched those growing ridges and smiled as Pammon trilled.

“What was that?”

“It was a congealed blood block.  I got it from the butcher in town when I stopped by his place on my way home.  He is going to let me get a few scraps.  I told him I needed to try and fatten you up.”

“Well, tonight we will eat like kings.  Fresh meat, a good stew, and some amazing apples!”

“All thanks to your dragon and his magical crap!”

Kaen laughed and nodded.

“All thanks to Pammon and his magical crap!”

Pammon gurgled in delight.  He could feel the joy Kaen had and knew they were praising him.