Part of her wanted desperately to pursue and find out who the mysterious dragon was that dared to break their most sacred of laws. But the woman and babe needed her help. Besides, what could she do? She was only a dancer who saw things she wasn’t supposed to see.
She settled onto the ground before the elven woman, folding her wings slowly to avoid stirring too much snow onto her. Blood trickled from one corner of the woman’s delicate mouth and pain filled her pale blue eyes. When her gaze settled upon Ashanti, her face contorted into a look of sheer terror and defeat. Clutching the babe in arms tighter, she turned away as best she could, crying out in agony as she did so. Her back was a ravaged ruin of holes left by the blue dragon’s spiked tail. Muscle and bone were visible.
“I mean you no harm. I came to help,” Ashanti said in the elf’s native tongue, the language coming out of her dragon’s mouth disjointed and odd sounding.
The woman’s head turned back in her direction but her narrowed eyes betrayed her skepticism. Holding her clawed forelegs up before her, Ashanti bowed her head low and did her best to look harmless.
“Why were we attacked? We’ve committed no offense against your kind?” The woman asked, her melodic voice catching on nearly every other word as she winced with the effort it took to speak.
The armored scales over Ashanti’s chest tightened, her hearts aching for the woman. “I know not. The blue must be a renegade from the Empire,” she answered, the lie bitter upon her forked tongue.
It was an assassination attempt, she was sure of it. But she couldn’t let the woman die knowing that. Surely her soul wouldn’t rest if she knew her child was in danger.
A series of hard coughs wracked the small woman’s body. She turned her head and spat bright red blood onto the snow. When she turned her pale blue eyes back Ashanti there was an acceptance in them that chilled the dragon.
“Noble dragon of the Empire, will you take my daughter back to our people?” she asked.
Ashanti straightened, sitting back on her haunches. “Of course,” she said, praying the woman couldn’t read a dragon’s face well enough to know when they were lying.
The elf let out a long breath that shook her small frame. She kissed the baby on the forehead then held it out to Ashanti. Forming a cradle out of her forelegs, careful to keep her claws turned out, Ashanti accepted the child.
“Our people are the Kagonesti. Our forest lies Southeast of here, three days ride by horse,” she paused, overcome by a fit of coughing. After a long moment, the fit passed and she spat out a mouthful of blood. When she continued her voice was thick with fluid. “At the base of the mountain, Kraggshead Pass, you’ll find our scouts.”
The child kicked and squirmed. Pale gray eyes gazed up at Ashanti out of a slender face with delicate features. Hair the texture of fine silk and the color of starlight covered her small head, hanging down nearly to her pointed ears. She was the one from Ashanti’s vision, there was no doubt.
“You have my word, she will be safe,” Ashanti said. It wasn’t a lie exactly.
For a long moment, the woman struggled to untie something from her belt. Finally she freed it and held it out to Ashanti, her arm drooping with the weight of it. It was a waterskin of some sort.
“There’s enough milk… in this to feed her… for the trip.” Her words were broken by a horrible wet cough that shook her entire body. The sound tugged at Ashanti’s heart. If only she’d believed in her visions, traveled a little faster, maybe she could have saved this poor woman…
“Protect Airegud…she…is…special…” The words seemed to drain the last of the woman’s life force she slumped over into the snow and released her final breath.
Blood pooled around her, staining the pristine snow crimson. In Ashanti’s forelegs, little Airegud began to wail and kick. Ashanti closed both her eyelids tight and muttered a quick blessing of rest in the elven tongue. She wasn’t sure if the elven deities would listen to a dragon, but she could at least try. Looking to each body scattered about the burning wagon, she repeated the blessing, even saying one for the two horses.
Tears stung beneath her primary eyelids, forcing her to open them to blink away the salty moisture. Such a horrible waste of life. The Empire would be livid. But she couldn’t tell them. She had no authorization to be here, so far from the Dragon Isles. Then there was the problem of why she was here. To admit she had visions would get her isolated on Thabor Island with the clergy class, at best. At worst, she’d be committed for being insane. Either way, she’d never see her friends or family again—and most importantly; Grendar. Seers were too dangerous to live among others the Empire said.
The babe squirmed within Ashanti’s grasp, nearly dumping herself to the ground. Her cries grew louder, more desperate, piercing Ashanti’s ears. Folding her talon adorned thumbs carefully over the child, she pulled her in against the armored scales of her chest. Spinning on a hind leg, she turned away from the carnage and with one easy beat of her wings, alighted to where she had discarded her clothing.
Gentle as she could with such a soft creature, Ashanti laid Airegud down on the cloak. With an agility that had come from a lifetime of handling things with talon-adorned fingers, she quickly gathered up the rest of her gear, stuffed it into a small pack, and strapped it to one of her rear legs. A cold wind blew across the frigid white landscape, making her scales tighten and drawing her eyes to the sky. Only the vast blue sky stretched above. The foreboding feeling deep in her gut refused to be ignored. As she blinked, a vision flashed behind her eyelids.
Casting a dark shadow upon a snowy land, a blue dragon flew far and wide, it’s eyes scanning. It flew over deep mountain passes filled with ancient trees that stretched over five hundred feet toward the sky. At the edge of the forest slight people-like shapes moved with an easy agility that revealed them for what they were; elves. It was the Kagonesti’s forest. Tipping a wing, the dragon veered toward them, mouth opening in preparation to spit lightning upon them.
The power of the vision knocked Ashanti onto all fours, forcing her to spread her wings to catch her balance and keep from crushing Airegud. On the cloak beneath her the baby fell silent, her wide gray eyes staring up at Ashanti. There was a light in her eyes made brighter by her wide-mouthed smile.
“You are special indeed little Airegud,” Ashanti said.
Bundling the woolen cloak tight about her, Ashanti clutched the baby to her chest and took to the skies. Muscles working, she beat her wings hard and rose high enough above the land so that she could see in all directions. A vast, pale blue sky stretched around them; empty. Ashanti let out the breath she’d been holding. One glance to the North, where the Kagonesti forest lay, was all she sparred before tipping a wing to turn West. If she was to survive, little Airegud could never see her people again.
TWO
Dragon Seer Page 2
