The Story of Dragon Rider Tal'on

By James Lee Allan "Tal'on"

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The Story of Dragon Rider Tal'on

After I had died on Earth as a seventy-plus-year-old man, I was brought to Antaera as a twenty-year-old. My life changed drastically from that point on.

Everything that I knew was gone, my family and friends, everything. The upside was that there were dragons to ride, and one wanted me to be his Rider. I had to go back to school as a seventy-plus-year-old. At least in my mind I was still seventy-plus even if I looked twenty.

I had to learn a new world history and a new culture. I also had to learn a new way of life with new customs, with new rules, different laws, everything. After all, I was on a new world. As it turned out, I was going to be a strong mage in this world, so I also had to learn how to use my magic.

My dragon had told me that he wanted me to buy some special horses. They were elven-bred and have magic. They know how they want for a Rider and will not let anyone else ride them.

The Great Draycon the Red was the dragon that had sent Rider To'od to Earth to bring me back to Antaera to be his Rider. I was to be his second Rider. His first Rider had died two hundred seasons (years) ago. There was a war coming, but that was still a ways in the future yet, so we still had time to prepare for that war. Draycon had put out the call to war to all the riderless dragons on Antaera. He told them that they should pick a Hold and a new Rider and to start getting ready for this new war. Draycon had brought at least one hundred older dragons with him when he came to claim me as his new Rider.

I hope that you enjoy this story.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638608356

Book preview

The Story of

Dragon Rider

TAL’ON

CHAPTER 1

James Lee Allan Tal’on

Copyright © 2022 James Lee Allan Tal’on

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books, Inc.

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2022

ISBN 978-1-63860-834-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63860-835-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

The Beginning as Told by James Lee Allon

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

In Memory of Liz Ortiz

To Liz, who helped me with all the computer work. Without her help, you would not be reading this book. Liz fought long and hard but lost her battle to cancer. She is with the Lord now. RIP, Liz.

The Beginning as Told by James Lee Allon

(A Friend of Dana’s)

Chapter 1

To start this story, I will give a short history of myself. This story begins on Earth, in the state of Ohio, where I was born in the mid-1940s. My father was career military. I lived in two different countries by the time I was twelve years old. As well as multiple schools before I graduated from high school. Dad was stationed at a Coast Guard base in North Carolina for the most part with two tours overseas. By the time he retired from the military in 1961, I was fifteen years old. We moved to Ohio to be near both of my grandparents. I went to four different schools in that area. I followed in my father’s footsteps and became a career military man (lifer).

I actually was in two separate branches of service. Straight out of high school, I went into the navy with a high school buddy. We went through basic training, and I have not seen him since 1965, when we came home on leave. Eventually I was sent to a ship for duty. I was in the navy for four years. By that time, I was twenty-three years old. I got out of the navy in 1969, but the job situation was not very good at the time. I decided to go back into the military. In 1972, I went into the air force, where I completed the other sixteen years. Which gave me a total of twenty years military service, so I retired and moved into the civilian world.

That was a little scary; after all, whenever I left one base for another, I knew I had a job waiting when I got there. I met my wife at my first air force base, and we have three boys together. While in the air force, I had a heart attack. I was thirty-two at that time, which was rather young for one. After I retired from the military at the age of forty-three, I underwent heart bypass surgery at fifty.

Chapter 2

So I had an appointment with my heart doctor, which was thirty or forty miles from where I lived. I was about halfway there doing seventy-plus miles an hour. I was alone in the car when out of thin air there was someone sitting in the passenger seat. Now that was not possible in my world and scared the heck out of me; therefore, I almost wrecked the van. He looked over at me and said, Hi, James Lee. My name is To’od, and your dragon has sent me to bring you back to Antaera.

I looked at him and told him, I don’t know how you got here, but you should leave the same way that you got here because I have a gun, and I will shoot you. Then he dropped the real bombshell.

He said, James, you need to pull over to the side of the road because you are going to have a massive heart attack and die in about five minutes. You need to contact your wife and tell her you are having a heart attack and that you are too far from the hospital, and you don’t think you will make it, then you need to call for medical help. This definitely got my attention, so I pulled over so I did not cause an accident and hurt anyone else.

I looked at him and said, Dragons do not exist.

He said, They do where we are going.

I told him that if this was true, I wanted my family taken care of so that they did not have any financial problems. He said, That has already been taken care of. He looked at me and reached over and touched my arm and said, It is time. And I felt a very bad pain in my chest, and everything went black.

Chapter 3

When I came back to myself, I was wondering what happened. It all came back to me. I knew that I was not still in the van because I was flat on my back in a bed or something and was covered up with soft sheets or blankets. I could hear voices but I could not understand what was being said. It sounded like a foreign language to me. As I lay there, I tried to figure out if I was okay, so I started to move things a little to make sure everything was working. It was. Next, I opened my eyes, but what I saw had me close them just as quick as I opened them. There I saw several people standing around the room talking; however, they were all dressed in what looked like armor of some kind.

So I started to think this through. It did not smell or look like a hospital; after all, I had seen enough of them as an x-ray tech for over thirty years. So that ruled out a hospital room, plus we did not wear armor where I came from, so now I had to wonder if To’od had been right, and I was not on Earth any longer. That made me think of the book on John Carter of Mars when I was younger. I did not think that I had died, because I felt fine, so I was thinking that maybe that To’od guy was wrong about me dying, but I did not think I was home either, so where did that leave me? None of this was making any sense at all to me.

I opened my eyes again and took a good look around at my surroundings. It looked like I was in a cave. My room at home did not look this good.

It looked like everyone there was dressed in armor, except one lady who was wearing a white robe or gown. I decided to sit up to get a better look around. The lady in white saw me and shook her head and motioned for me to lay back down. At the same time, she said something to someone, and To’od turned around and told me not to try and get up just yet. I tried to talk, but my throat was so dry no words would come out.

He said, Let me get you something to drink. He walked over to a table that had a pitcher and some plates on it. He poured something into a cup and asked if I was hungry and picked up one of the plates, but the lady in white shook her head no, and he put it back on the table and brought the cup over to me. He helped me to sit up enough so I could drink.

It was a little sweet and cool, and man, did it feel good going down. He laid me back down and said that drink would make me sleep until morning and that it had something in it that would make me understand the language, and we would talk then. I closed my eyes, and everything went black again. I sure was getting tired of it getting dark all the time. When I woke up again, there was a young man dozing in a chair. He did not seem to be much older than seventeen or eighteen, and he looked tired. I did not want to bother him, so I tried to sit up in the bed.

I must have made some noise because his eyes popped open, and he got a look of panic on his face. He jumped up from the chair and told me not to get up cause the healer said I was not to get up until she had checked me over.

So please lay back, Rider, and I will go and get her. This will only take a minute. He started for what looked like a door and calling for the healer. Come quick, he is trying to get up.

Boy, things moved fast after that. The lady in white hurried in. She took one look at me and said, You lay back down. I don’t want you to get up just yet. She turned to the young man and said, Yar’ed, go find To’od and tell him that this young man is awake and trying to get up. The boy took off like he was being chased by a swarm of bees.

It wasn’t long before To’od came in followed by the young man whose name was Yar’ed, who looked much relieved now he was not the only one left in the room with an old man. The healer had told me she wanted to check me over to see how I was coming along and told me to lay still and relax, that this would not take long if I would just cooperate.

So I lay back down and closed my eyes. At least it did not go dark again. I could hear her mumbling to herself, then I felt a tingling all over. It did not hurt or last long, and she said, Okay, you may sit up if you would like.

I tried to sit up on my own but could not, so Yar’ed came over and helped me to get into a sitting position with a couple of cushions behind my back. To’od looked at me and asked if I was feeling all right and was comfortable. I said yes. He said, Good. Now for some introductions. First, I wish you to meet the lady taking care of you for the last few days while you recovered from the last several days, Healer Tara, and Yar’ed. He pointed at each one as he said their names. And of course I am To’od, and if you recall, we met in your car before you died. I would like to present to you the former James Lee Allon of Earth.

I lay back down and closed my eyes. I bowed toward each one and said that it was nice to meet them. I told To’od that I did remember him. I said that I had some questions for him.

He chuckled and said, I bet you do.

I looked at Yar’ed and grinned and said I was sorry that I had scared him, but I was a harmless old guy that could not get around very well, and I was sure that he could outrun me with ease.

To’od said with a grin that I was no longer an old man. In fact, you are about twenty seasons old, not the old man who had died in the van on the side of the road, and yes, you did die, and now you are in your new home.

The healer cut in at this point and told To’od I was doing fantastic, considering that I had died and come back to life.

She said it had only been a few days since all this had taken place, and I was not ready to do much, at least for another two or three days. He may get up and walk around the room. I will have his food sent here. He needs to regain his strength back before he can walk very far. I will be back after the noon meal. Also, you will get more of the healing drink.

I asked if it was going to make me sleep for the rest of the day, and she said I did not need that anymore, then she left the room and said she would see me later.

Chapter 4

To’od told Yar’ed to sit down and relax. He said that things would be a lot easier for him for a while now that he was going to be showing me how things worked here on Antaera. He said since I was not born here that I did not understand our customs, and it was up to him to teach me what I needed to know so I could fit into our society and become a functioning member and fit in. He turned to me and grinned and said for me to close my mouth before something flew in. "Also, you will not be called James here, for that is an Earth name. Also, your dragon has told me you will be known as Rider Tal’on, which is what a dragon Rider is called.

"You would normally be called Tal’on since you have not bonded with your dragon yet. However, he has instructed me to notify everyone that you were sent from Earth and that I was sent to get you by your dragon. Even though we do not know his identity as of yet, we all know that there are not many dragons that can reach out to another dimension and call his Rider even though you were unaware of the calling.

"Now you are considered a special Rider, therefore you will be addressed as Rider Tal’on. If you are addressed otherwise, it is an insult to you as well as your dragon, which will not be tolerated by any Rider and especially by your dragon. I have heard some grumbling about calling you Rider instead of just Called, however they all know that this honor was bestowed on you by a very powerful dragon, and everyone will respect your dragon’s wishes or pay the consequences, which will be dire.

"Even the other dragons know not to ignore your dragon’s wishes, and as of this time, no one knows who your dragon is, not even me. I know a dragon that powerful is not to be ignored. If he can reach across dimensions to watch you, it is not one that I am going to ignore, so if another Rider does not give you that respect, you tell me.

Yar’ed’s proper title of address is Called and that means that a dragon has been watching over him for some time. Yar’ed, please tell your story to the Rider.

I said, Wait a minute, I thought you said I was to call him Called, not Yar’ed?

Then Yar’ed spoke up and said, "The Rider is a mentor here, as he will be yours. He was almost like my second father to me, because when I came here, I was only fourteen seasons, and he sponsored me and took me under his wing because his dragon told him to.

"Now to my story, I had just turned fourteen summers when I got my first call, which I ignored because dragons did not call poor farm boys. I did not even say anything to my parents, I knew they would think I was making it up. A day had gone by, and I had forgotten about it when I was called to the Hold again. I ignored the call again even though it was fairly strong.

"Although I did tell my parents at dinner that night, my two brothers and sisters laughed. My dad and mom looked at each other and asked if I was making this up and that it was probably just wishful thinking and let it drop. About six moons later, the call came again, only this time it came as a command, it was so strong. So I told them that a dragon had called me, I had to go to Mid Hold as commanded, and I would need to leave on the morrow for the Hold.

After the morning meal, I took the pack I had made up the night before with the little food that my family could spare, my fire-starting kit and bow and arrows, and started off towards Mid Hold, which was about ten leagues from my family farm. At that point To’od told me that was bout thirty Earth miles. Yar’ed said that it took him six days to get to the town that supported the Hold. He had camped in the woods on those nights of his trip since he did not have any coins for a room at an inn. He had taken a few rabbits with his bow and had a nice fire on a warm night, so he had a good meal and slept warm and dry. It was a good trip. The next morning, he went into the town to find a way up to the Hold, as it was about a league up to the Hold property and all uphill, so he wanted the best and easiest way up since he had to walk up.

"So I thought to myself, who would know the easiest way up to the Hold and to deliver goods to them at the Hold? So I looked around and saw a saddlemaker’s shop. I went into the shop to talk to someone and ask them the easiest way to walk up to the Hold. There was only one man in the shop when I went in. He looked at me and said, ‘I do not need another apprentice for I already have two.’ I said I had just come in to see if he could please tell me the best way to walk up to the Hold because I had been called.

"He took another closer look at me. He saw my pack and bow and asked how long I had been traveling. So I told him six days because my parents’ farm was ten leagues from here. He thought for a bit and said if I would help him load his wagon here and unload at the Hold, he would give me a ride up to the Hold stables, and since I was tired of walking, I said I agreed.

When we finished hitching his team to the wagon, it was time for the noon meal, and he fed me as well, so I thought I had made a good deal. After we ate, he said it was time to start for the Hold. The trip took about two hours plus I got to see all of the dragons flying around and was wondering if one was my dragon. When we had the wagon unloaded, he asked the stable master where I was to go to report, because I said that I was a newly called, so now you know my story.

To’od took over again. He told me that my dragon had contacted him about coming to collect me from Earth and bring me to Antaera. "He told me that when the time came, he would tell me to be ready, and he would send me to collect you and bring us back to Antaera.

"He said that it would be soon, within the next moon, and that I would only have about one-hour warning to be ready. That is how I was in your van when you were driving down that road. I could not leave your car if I wanted too, you see. Because I had to wait for the dragon to bring us both back here. You took a little longer than the dragon said it would take for you to revive. Your dragon said it would only take a couple of days, not a full seven day.

So you have been on Antaera for one seven day. You woke up yesterday, but you were too weak to be up and about. You still have to regain your strength back. I said that I felt just fine. I felt like I could run a mile. To’od said, All right, go ahead and get out of bed. Yar’ed, get ready to catch him when he falls. He has to learn the hard way, I guess.

So to prove that he was wrong, I threw the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. As I stood up, my whole world started spinning, and the next thing I knew, Yar’ed and To’od each had an arm and was putting me back to bed. To’od said, Told you so, and Yar’ed was grinning from ear to ear. You stay there until the healer says you can get up. I am sure you would like to clean up after being dead for the last seven days. Yar’ed, go find a chair or stool that we can put in the bathing stall so he can wash up. If nothing else, he can sit under the water and rinse off at least. I am sure that will help him feel better at any rate.

While Yar’ed was gone, I looked at To’od and said to him, I have a very important question, why do you keep saying that my dragon is telling you to do all this stuff? Dragons do not exist, they are the product of someone’s imagination, including mine. Now back on Earth there are many myths about dragons, way back in the early medieval period of Earth history, but not in my time in history.

To’od got a serious look on his face and said to me, Dragons had actually come to Antaera from Earth a long time back in the prehistory of Antaera. They were hunted almost to extinction, but with the help of their magic and that of a few very powerful mages, they made it here to Antaera, where they have thrived. You will learn more on dragon history when you are able to attended class on the history of Antaera with those that have been called. You will be the oldest in the classes, but you need to learn our history like everyone else. Don’t look so sad, we all had to do it.

It was at this time that Yar’ed came back with a stool that could be used in the bathing stall, which turned out to be a shower. They helped me get undressed and get me where I was able to turn on the water valves and grab what looked like soap and let me shower. I sure felt better after that. Yar’ed gave me something to dry myself off with. By this time, it was time for the noon meal, and To’od told Yar’ed to go down to the dining hall and bring back food for him and me. He said that he had some things to do but would be back later on this afternoon. They both left me in the bed.

When Yar’ed came back into the room, he was pushing a cart with covered dishes and bowls on it. It was at this time that I realized how hungry I was. I asked Yar’ed to help me get up to sit at the small table so I could eat sitting up. He helped me to the table then started to fix me a plate of food.

He took the covers off everything and asked me what I would like as he told me what everything was. By the time that we were ready to eat, I was thinking that maybe my eyes were bigger than my stomach, but I was wrong, when I was done, I was ready for a nap. Yar’ed helped me back to bed, where I promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, To’od was talking to the Healer Tara. She was telling him I was doing very well for someone who had died and was transported to a new world just a seven day ago.

She told Yar’ed to get a pitcher of healing drink so I could have a few more cups, but I did not need the sleep potion any longer. She said she would be back after the evening meal. She told Yar’ed she would walk partway to the dining hall to take those dishes back and to get the healing drink.

When they were gone, I sat up in the bed, asked To’od if he had gotten everything done. He said that he had. He told me that he had gone to housekeeping to arrange for me to move to my own quarters on the morrow. He told me they were much bigger than here in the infirmary. Also, that he had made arrangements to have clothes issued to me until I could buy my own. That would be after my dragon claimed and bonded with me, then all the funds that his last Rider had would transfer to my name along with the power that my dragon possessed. He was sure that amount would not be a small amount that would only buy some new clothes as a treat.

Until the Hold starts to fund you for work you will perform for the Hold, it will not be a great amount but about 2,000 marks. However, it will allow you to replace the issued things with your own.

It took about three days after I moved into my own quarters that Healer Tara said I was fit enough for light duty, nothing very physical, which means no weapons training. I could watch only, no exceptions, maybe in another few days I could start archery training. She said, Understand? We all said yes. To’od ask her if I could go to the study classes since the next day was first day, and the new classes would start. She looked at Yar’ed and said, You start on the morrow, correct?

He said, Yes, Healer.

She said, Good, you are responsible for him. Make sure he does not overexert himself.

He said, Yes, Healer. I told him not to worry. I would not let him get into trouble because of me. I did ask if I could go out for some fresh air, which she agreed to then left.

Chapter 5

The next day Yar’ed came to collect me for my first day back in school in over fifty years. I seemed to cause a stir when I walked into the room. It seemed that the entire Hold knew of me, but only a few had actually met and talked to me, so I was a little famous. After all, my dragon had called me from another dimension when I was an old man and now I was a young man—that took a very powerful dragon, plus they did not even know my name. So after the instructor got the class to sit down, he looked at me and said to me, Rider, we would like to welcome you to your new home. My name is Quinton, and I am pleased to be your instructor. Would you be kind enough to introduce yourself and give a short history of yourself?

So I stood up and asked if he wanted me to come up front or stay where I was. He said he would like for me come to the front, then everyone would be able to see me, and we would not have half of the class turning around to look at me when they should be listening to him. I gave a little chuckle and smiled at him as I made my way to the front. As I turned around to face the class, I said to them, I do not want any one of you to be looking at me while we have class. First off, I am seventy-three summers old. I think I am looking pretty good for my age, don’t you think?

No one said a thing, so I said, Do y’all think I still look seventy-three summers old? Then they all started saying no. I said, Y’all had me scared for a minute there. I thought maybe that wasn’t me in the looking glass this morning. I know that I do not look like the old man I was back on Earth, and that is one good thing as far as I am concerned ’cause you see, I was not in very good health. In fact, for me to come here, I had to die. Now I am back to being twenty summers old. Also on Earth, I had three sons, and they are all older than you. Now I like being young again, but to me, the best thing is that there are dragons here. There are no dragons on Earth. Also, you may call me Rider Tal’on or just Rider. I looked at the instructor and asked him if that was correct, and he said yes.

He said, Rider, would you mind answering a few questions?

I said, Not at all, but I do not wish to take up too much of your class time.

He said, If we do it now, we won’t have to lose any extra time.

So we had a few minutes of question-and-answer time. Some questions were serious, and others were silly. I answered all of them the best I could, and then the old man kicked in, and I said, No more questions. You have lived here all of your lives, but I have only been here for three seven days, so I need to learn everything you already know. We have taken up enough class time. I know that you don’t think so, but I do. So, Instructor Quinton, I give you back your class.

He said, "Thank you, Rider, for taking time to talk to everyone. Now, class, let us get started. To start with, we will begin with a little history of Antaera and how the dragons came to be.

Most of you know that dragons have been on Antaera for thousands of summers, but do you know how they came to be here? Well, we do not know either. However, we do know when our dragons came from Earth. Yes, Earth. They came here about forty thousand seasons ago. Now our newest Rider will have heard rumors or myths of dragons, even though no one of his time believed that dragons are real, is that correct, Rider?

I nodded my head and realized that they could not hear me nod so