A/N. Before you read on, I would like to clarify something. Aleron and Joseph's points of view are not in the same time-line. Some might have noticed that Joseph's pov follows 4 years after the rejection and Aleron's pov is 6 years after. You do the math ;)

This is very important to know and realize as you keep on reading! I don't want to be spammed soon with questions of how some things are not lining up with the two pov's.

Now, let's get on with the story!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Year 3136 of the Goblin

Aleron made another swoop over the southern border, making sure he was well spotted and seen by every human living near the border and affected areas. He had been making the same round for a few weeks now, always making himself visible to every human and other creature that scurried around the tainted lands. Khuzaimah had shown him everything there was to see and had enlightened him on everything that had been going on in the last decade. The old wyvern had made sure Aleron knew his task and after, he had retreated back in his own territory. Aleron would find him every nightfall and report to him what was going on and discuss what the next course of action would be.

The first and foremost plan was Aleron showing himself and becoming a regular sighting in the areas. If he was to protect the humans, they had to be familiar with him and not mistake him for a danger. The village where he had dropped off the young girl already was familiar with him as he would often drop by and visit her. They were no longer scared of the strong and youthful Wyvern and Aleron had begun trying to help the humans where needed. They seemed to understand they could talk to him and that he listened. So far, he had tried plowing fields, herding the cattle and just watching over the children while the parents were working. 

Herding the cattle was something he would not attempt again. It had been a huge disaster. The humans might not see him as dangerous; the cattle harbored other feelings. It had taken the villagers up to three days to get the herd back together.

Aleron gazed down at the lake which was coming into view. It was situated in the 'good' part of the lands and had become an important source of food for the Wyvern. It was rich with fish and big enough he would not destroy the ecosystem if he would eat from it regularly. He circled the lake a few times until he spotted what he wanted to spot. Without further delay, Aleron tucked in his wings and dove down. He reached speeds he was not capable of when flying straight. The earth's gravity pulling him down, letting him plummet to the water. All he needed to do was maintain the course and keep his head down. 

He was one of the few wyverns who hunted like this. Most would skim the surface and drag out a fish with their back feet, but Aleron loved the rush, the danger and the idea of crashing down into the water. If he would angle himself just wrong, there was a chance of hurting himself. Worst case scenario, he could break his own neck. 

It was mere seconds before his nose touched the shiny glimmery surface of the water. It parted for him, allowing him entrance and for his body to follow, submerging him completely. Once his head was under, Aleron opened his mouth, exposing all his teeth and snatched the big fish. His wings opened underwater, slowing him down and with his tail, he gave a hard jerk down so he angled himself upwards again while not losing his momentum.

He was in and out of the water in mere seconds, the big fish dangling and thrashing around in his beak. It was a big one, too big for a human to handle but for Aleron he was just right to ease his growling stomach. Aleron's teeth were designed for prey like this. Unlike a dragon's beak which had strong teeth straight down and sometimes even visible when the dragon had its mouth closed, Aleron and other wyverns had a few rows of teeth behind one another, all angled inward towards his throat. Once a fish got caught, there was no escaping.

With the fish still alive in his mouth, Aleron flew over to a grassy patch and landed gracefully. He opened his wings wide, letting them dry as he tossed his head upwards, tossing the fish in the air and caught it again. The fish was now with its head between Aleron's jaws and with a few more tosses of his head, he gulped down the fish whole.

"You're that wyvern that keeps flying over our village." A male voice speaks up and straight away Aleron felt a rock hit him in the back. "You're not scaring me with that tactic. You're not even a real dragon! Stay away from my village you hear! I'll do anything to defend us and once I bond to a dragon I will kill you all! You, those trolls, and even those smoke dragons! I'll kill you all for everything you've done!"

Aleron slowly turned around and found himself face to face with a male human who seemed way too old to bond with a dragon. The clothes he wore were old and dirty just as he was himself. He looked familiar and Aleron recalled seeing the man in one of the smaller villages along the line of the black death as he had called it. There were only a handful of humans left after the village had suffered from many attacks followed by disease and other bad signs. It was one of the places Khuzaimah had marked down as most likely to fall soon. 

But there had not been any attacks lately. Not a single troll, gnome or other creature of the dark had attacked. Whatever was going on in the south causing the lands the blacken and die had halted. Aleron studied the man before him again. He seemed determined and yet delusional. The man held no fear in his eyes but did hold another big rock in his hands. Aleron snarled at him, showing his teeth to the man without posing a real threat. He tucked his wings back in against his body. He could look more threatening to the man but that was not his goal and purpose. Besides, that rock, if thrown well and hard enough, posed a very small risk of actually doing some slight damage. Not something Aleron wanted to test.

"Yeah snarl all you want you misshaped dragon! All you do is fish out our rivers and lakes! I would even prefer to be bonded to a smoke Dragon than to one of your kind! I am a Dragonborn!" The man smirked as he spoke and continued insulting Aleron who was no longer paying attention to the words.

The man seemed to really believe he was to be bonded to a dragon even though his age proved he wouldn't. Humans were always between sixteen and eighteen when they would bond. This human male specimen seemed to have at least seen twenty-five summers. Aleron groaned on the inside as he turned his had to the south. The village where the man came from was not too far away. For a moment he wished he could talk back, explain who he was and why he was here and ask the man about the 'smoke dragons.' It was something Aleron had never heard of before but the name was not something he liked. Regular dragons were bad enough. When he turned his head back and saw that man was still shouting at him Aleron sighed internally and opened his wings. He had enough of the man's babblings for now and decided to finish his rounds.

His strong legs pushed against the soil underneath his paws and as he leaped up in the sky with a few large wing flaps. Aleron made sure to make them extra strong so the gust of wind would hit the, now enraged man, straight in his face. The man threw the rock at Aleron but it missed the wyvern by a long shot. With just a few wingbeats he was high up in the sky, enjoying the wind that rushed past his scales and underneath the leatherlike skin of the wings and quickly forgetting about the strange angry man. 

Humans amused Aleron. The more time he spent with them, the more he saw them as entertainment. Well most of them. Some humans just felt different and more important. The girl being one of them and Joseph... He rather not admit it, but Joseph was still on his mind, in his head, part of him.

The sun was slowly setting again before Aleron made his way back to Khuzaimah. His wings were growing weary from spending yet another day almost full time in the air. The old dark brown wyvern was already situated at the usual spot on the hill overlooking the territory. It was the same hill he had taken Aleron to the first time and it had become their meet-up place. Aleron gracefully landed beside his older friend and both sat in silence as the first stars appeared in the darkening sky. 

"Nothing. No attacks, no irregularities, the dark lands haven't even moved. It's like there's nothing going on here at all! one of the things you told me are happening. There's no war here, just decay of the lands." Aleron complained to Khuzaimah. The whole flight after his eventful lunch had him thinking about what he was doing. 

"Something else is brewing, Aleron. Don't you see what's happening? I flew to the city today. I listened to the rumors from a safe distance. The humans talk. They talk a lot. My rider made me listen to everything. Always keep your eyes and ears open. There's a red and violet dragon coming soon. They belong to the personal club of the Golden Dragon apparently. They've come to assess the situation here. If they find nothing, they'll report it back and thus keep everything and everyone in the North." Khuzaimah didn't even look at Aleron as he spoke. He kept his eyes fixated on the horizon as to expect the two dragons to arrive at any moment.

Aleron remained silent, letting the words from the wiser wyvern sink into his mind. There were dragons coming. Dragons that knew the Golden Dragon. Maybe... Maybe he could talk to them?

"Aleron!" Khuzaimah's angry voice broke Aleron out of his thoughts. "Listen to me! Get that idea out of your head! The Golden Dragon won't accept a wyvern, you know that! You need to make your own future now!" How Khuzaimah had been able to guess what Aleron had been thinking about was beyond him.

"You have much to learn, Aleron. Your love for humans is there, but you don't seem to know what to do with it. You accepted your task as protector of the south and yet you have no idea what's going on or happening. You have had plenty of time to figure it out. There's a reason I asked you to fly close to the villages. Once you see humans, you can hear humans. You can listen to them, their talk might be annoying but can hold valuable information. You should have known about the two dragons!"

"I did listen to one of them!" Aleron bit back in frustration of being scolded. "He hates my guts, thinks I'm the enemy! Claims he is Dragonborn and is waiting to bond with a dragon! The human was way too old for that! He kept on yapping about the smoke dragons, about wanting to kill us all! What information can I get from that?! He was delusional, angry, bitter and just hated me nothing else! Other conversations I pick up are about cooking, about who's with who, what their plans are yada, yada, yada! Nothing of importance, nothing worth my time to listen to!" Aleron's frustration was evident as he huffed and puffed with every sentence. He didn't even notice that Khuzaimah had turned to face him.

"Smoke Dragons?" Khuzaimah uttered the words in disbelief. "Did you just say that a village has seen actual Smoke Dragons?! Which village?"

"Windhill. But the man was delusional! Smoke Dragons don't exist." Aleron smiled as good as wyverns could smile but that soon faltered as he locked gazes with Khuzaimah. The old wyvern was shocked and trembling. Besides pain, there was something else visible in his eyes. It took Aleron a moment to realize what it was.

Fear.

For a moment the two wyverns sat facing each other without a single word or thought drifting between them. Aleron had heard stories of Smoke Dragons before. They were once normal wild dragons but enslaved and abused until they would work for the Dark army. They bred, and with each generation, their colors faded as they became more infused with the Darkness. They were strong, big and extremely dangerous. They were also thought to be extinct as the Dark army had not used them in the long-lasting war against Cefril. There had not been a single sighting for over a hundred years.

"They do exist. I battled one with my rider back in the day. It nearly cost us our lives. The greater council did not acknowledge it when we reported it. They claimed us to be liars." Khuzaimah paused turning his head again as he stared off into the distance again. "If this is true, our lands, territories are at a bigger danger than I believed."