The Goldscale Gambit
When a dragon goes dark, a patrol turns into a race against extinction.
The Last Patrol Hour
Kaelin squinted into the fading light.
Her dragon glided silently above the valley, wings stretched wide, scales catching the last gold threads of the sun. Below, chimneys puffed like contented sighs, and the cobbled streets of Aderyn Hollow shimmered with the soft glow of lanterns being lit.
She rolled her shoulders and leaned into her saddle. One more pass, and—
Something sliced the air beside her. A blur. No lights. No warning.
Kaelin jolted upright. Her dragon growled, neck craning instinctively toward the motion.
"What was that?" she muttered.
It was a dragon, that much was clear. Sleek. Fast. And completely unmarked—no patrol sigil, no beacon lamps swinging from the stirrups.
No rider in their right mind flew unlit at this hour. The Dragon Code demanded visibility. For safety. For accountability. Especially near the borders.
But Kaelin hesitated.
It wasn’t her problem. Her shift was almost over, and regulations were clear: never pursue alone. She needed a second witness. And she’d been promised a still-warm chicken pie at the tavern, if she made it back in time.
Her stomach rumbled in protest.
But her dragon shifted beneath her, muscles tensing, head snapping back toward her.
"You feel it too, huh?"
She sighed and gripped the reins. “Let’s go. Just a peek.”
Chase Through Stone and Wind
They gave chase. The intruder flew fast, banking hard along the ridge.
Kaelin grit her teeth. “He’s fast, but I know these canyons.”
She veered right, through a needle-thin pass barely wide enough for wings. Rock walls blurred on either side—one wrong twitch and they’d be dragon soup.
She shot out the other end—
And nearly collided with the stranger.
His dragon reeled, flaring its wings. The rider hissed a curse.
Kaelin shouted, “Dragon patrol! Can we talk?”
The rider’s hood turned toward her. A pause.
“No,” he said flatly, and spurred his mount.
“Figures,” Kaelin muttered. “There goes my dinner.”
She leaned low over her dragon’s neck. “I’ll get you an extra goat if we catch him.”
Her mount growled its approval and dove after the fugitive, wind howling around them as they plunged between twisting canyon spines.
The rider was good. Too good. Whoever they were, they knew how to fly like a shadow and vanish like mist.
Kaelin saw cliffs ahead—the coast. The intruder dove—
And vanished.
Cliffs and Secrets
Kaelin hovered, scanning the sea. Waves foamed and crashed against jagged rock, and night crept fast across the water.
Nothing.
Until—
There. A shadow of a cave mouth in the cliffs. Nearly invisible. But seagulls burst from its edge in startled flurries.
She frowned. “Too suspicious.”
Kaelin didn’t charge in. She’d trained her dragon for something rare—vertical landings.
The creature clamped onto the cliffside just above the cave, talons digging into stone. Kaelin unslung her climbing rope, anchored it, and began the descent.
She moved carefully—down to a ledge just above the cave, concealed by the gnarled branches of a cliff-hugging pine. From there, she had a clear downward angle into the entrance. Lantern light flickered inside, casting long shadows on the cave wall.
Three figures stood inside.
Kaelin’s breath caught.
The hooded rider—his dragon curled behind him.
An armed guard—tense, sword at his side, clearly watching the shadows.
And deeper in the gloom, the buyer. Cloaked. Still. A darker presence.
Between them lay a leather satchel.
Kaelin strained to listen. The language was foreign, but the tension was unmistakable. The buyer barked something. The rider snapped back, pulling open the satchel to reveal what lay inside.
The guard shifted—just a step forward.
And suddenly, violently, the hooded rider shoved him.
The man’s scream was brief. His armored body toppled from the ledge and vanished into the dark below.
Kaelin flinched.
Inside the cave, everything snapped taut. The buyer’s voice rose in alarm. The rider advanced now, voice sharper, angrier. No more negotiation. The deal was falling apart.
Kaelin’s heart pounded. Should I intervene now?
But then—
A hiss from above. Her dragon’s warning.
Danger. Incoming.
Chaos from Above
A shadow streaked across the moonlight. Another dragon—silent, swift—swooped down and crashed into the cave like a storm given wings.
Roars. Screams. The sound of bones shattering. Silence.
Kaelin clutched the rope. Frozen.
The first dragon emerged from the cave mouth, wings wide, claws dripping. It rose into the air—and with a careless motion, dropped something.
The hooded rider. A limp shape spiraling into the sea.
Moments later, the second dragon followed—this one bearing a rider. In their hands: the leather satchel.
Kaelin swung onto her dragon and unclipped the safety harness.
“Follow,” she whispered.
The wind surged beneath their wings as they gave chase down toward the valley lake.
A Moonlit Revelation
They touched down at the lake’s edge, unnoticed in the cover of brush.
Kaelin dismounted, crept closer through the trees.
The rider knelt by the water, set the satchel down gently. Untied the knot. Stepped back.
Something moved.
A dragonling’s head emerged—no bigger than a rabbit. Its scales shimmered gold beneath the moonlight.
Kaelin stopped breathing.
A Goldscale.
The two larger dragons approached with reverence. One licked the dragonling. The other lowered its head and gently picked it up in its jaws, as if lifting a hatchling from a nest.
Together, the three dragons took flight, vanishing toward the peaks.
The rider stood alone, watching them go.
And then she turned—toward Kaelin’s hiding place.
“Kaelin? That you?” she called softly.
Kaelin blinked, stepped out of the bushes, heart still thudding. “Lady Nilla?”
The rider pulled back her hood, smiling faintly.
“Commander Nilla of the Dragon Protection Unit, officer.” She gave a nod. “Didn’t think I’d spot you, did you?”
“You—were the second rider?”
“I was. And before you ask—I read your shift schedule. Knew you'd spot him and would trust your gut.”
Kaelin shook her head. “You set this up?”
“Let’s say I nudged it into motion.” Nilla stepped closer, brushing mud from her sleeve. “The trafficker wouldn’t accept a clean deal. Killed my guard. So my dragon intervened.”
Kaelin looked toward the mountains, where the glint of gold still shimmered faintly in the distance. “That was a goldscale. I thought they were gone.”
“They nearly are,” Nilla said. “Hunted for their scales—people believed they made armor unbreakable, swords lucky, soldiers invincible. So they stripped them. Burned their nesting grounds. All for superstition and profit. There are fewer than a dozen known in the wild now.”
“And you let it go?”
“I didn’t let it go. I gave it to family. Dragons will raise another’s young, sometimes. Especially if the bond is made early.” She gazed back at the sky. “It has a chance to survive now.”
Kaelin exhaled slowly. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Neither had I.” Nilla’s voice was quiet, her eyes still on the stars. “That’s why I had to act.” She smiled, tired but proud. “But speaking of survival—any chance that tavern’s still serving?”
Kaelin grinned. “If we fly fast. I’ll give you a ride.”
Nilla swung into the saddle behind her. “We’re going to break the Dragon Code’s speed limit.”
Kaelin nudged her dragon into a running start. “Technically, I am the only patrol on duty tonight.”
The dragon launched into the air.
“So I officially authorize this violation,” Kaelin added, grinning into the wind. “Emergency pie protocol.”
And with that, they vanished into the night—two riders, one secret, and wings slicing fast toward home.
Far above the mountains, something golden sparkled against the stars.
The End.
So happy to read more about the dragon riders! I enjoy it.
I am the law.....
Emergency Pie Protocol.
That's as good a reason as any to break the speed limit.