“These monsters must pay for harming our people.” Riona landed, the tharuk still clinging to her. She shredded another beast with her talons, flinging its carcass into the trees.
That was enough. Kierion scrambled down the tree and drew his sword.
“Kierion. You were supposed to stay hidden,” Riona melded.
“Hold still.” Kierion leaped onto the wide part of her tail. Running up her spinal ridges, he swarmed up her back and swung his sword at Dark Fur. The troop leader’s head flew off. A spray of dark blood rained over his beautiful dragon’s purple scales, covering their golden glimmer with a sticky slick. The tharuk’s body twitched, its claws still impaled in Riona. Kierion yanked on the body, and it came free. He tossed it to the snow. Fenni incinerated it with wizard flame.
“That mage is handy to have around, isn’t he?” Riona said. “Get in the saddle. Let’s finish these tharuks off.”
Kierion was settling in the saddle when Fenni yelled, “Duck.”
Riona sank to the ground and Kierion flung himself against her hide. An arrow dripping with limplock zipped past, ruffling his hair. Kierion gulped.
Riona bunched her haunches and took off, swooping over the clearing to flame the remaining handful of tharuk grunts.
When all of the beasts were dead, Fenni climbed out of his strongwood tree and sat in the snow, leaning against the trunk.
Riona landed and Kierion slid onto the snow. He grabbed a waterskin from her saddlebags and went over to Fenni while she snatched up tharuk bodies, tossing them into a pile.
“Hey, are you all right?” Kierion asked.
Fenni’s face was pale and beaded with sweat. He was breathing heavily. “So that’s what Jael meant about building up stamina before I got into battle,” he gasped.
Kierion offered him a drink and he slugged it back. Riona set the tharuks alight and paced over. Kierion scratched her eye ridges. “Are you in pain?” He needn’t have asked—he could feel it.
“A little,” Riona answered.
If only he had some piaua juice.
“I think I need to eat,” Fenni said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Could you take me to Mage Gate?”
“Sure,” said Kierion. “Riona will need healing, too. Oh, will the mages be all right, seeing a dragon?”
“They’ll have to be,” said Fenni.
“They will if I’m with you.” A man, older than Kierion’s father, with thick bushy eyebrows, came into the clearing, his wizard cloak swishing around his tall, gangly frame.
“Master Giddi,” Fenni cried. “Ah, um, good to see you. This is my friend, Kierion.”
“Your friend?” Master Giddi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“From Montanara.” Kierion shook the wizard’s hand, a tingle of magic stinging his palm.
Branches cracked behind them. Fenni and Master Giddi whirled, their hands dripping with sparks.
A Naobian ran into the clearing. “I’m glad everything’s under control,” he said, gesturing at the dark pall created by the burning tharuk pyre. “What a beautiful dragon. Such glorious scales. It’s very rare to see a rolling gold.”
“A what?” Kierion asked.
“Rolling gold, also known as golden flash. It’s what the gold shimmer in her scales is called.”
“I’m rare, did you hear that?” Riona melded. “You’d better take care of me.”
Speaking of taking care of her … “Do you happen to have any piaua juice?” Kierion asked. “She’s wounded.”
“A little.” Master Giddi nodded. “But piaua juice is the least of your troubles. I’d be more worried about finding an excuse for Master Lars when you return to Dragons’ Hold.”
Jael
By the time Kierion landed outside his new dragon rider’s cavern, it was dusk and his kitchen duties had been long fulfilled by the people he’d organized. Keeping to little-used tunnels, he managed to sneak to the infirmary. “Ah, Master Marlies, do you have a moment?” He held Jael’s sack of healing supplies against his side, with his jerkin thrown over it—a clumsy disguise, but better than walking around with a sack emblazoned with a Naobian brand.
“Are you here to see Adelina?” she asked. “Sorry, she’s back in her cavern.”
He winced. In his excitement about the skirmish, he’d missed visiting her. “Um, I’ve been busy.”
Her eyes darted to his poorly-disguised bundle. “Ah, Kierion, I need a hand moving some remedies in my alcove. Would you mind helping me?”
“Sure.” Good, she’d found an excuse for them to talk alone.
Marlies took him to the alcove at the back of the infirmary, away from the patients, and pulled the curtain shut behind them. The shelves were half empty because Fleur—the last master healer and as corrupt as a den of thieves—had destroyed so many healing herbs.
The last time Kierion had been in here was when Zaarusha had been poisoned and he’d helped Adelina and Lars search for remedies. That had been a tough night. He’d accidentally bumped Ezaara and half a bottle of tonic had shot down Zaarusha’s throat. For a moment he’d thought he’d killed Queen Zaarusha. Luckily, everything had worked out.
“These are too high for my trainee to reach easily,” Marlies said in a voice that carried. “Could you help me move them lower?” She gestured at the sack.
Kierion tossed his jerkin on a shelf and opened the mouth of the sack. “I’ve got your wizard cloak too,” he whispered, pulling out pouches of herbs, vials and jars and placing them on the shelf. Marlies was clever. The clinks and thumps really did sound like they were re-sorting her supplies. He also passed her the wizard cloak from the bottom of the sack. “Oh, here’s another one.”
“Here, hold this,” Marlies said loudly. She narrowed her eyes, whispering, “Where did you get these?”
Under her penetrating turquoise gaze, Kierion had to be honest. “From Master Giddi,” he whispered back, rushing on to distract her. “Jael couldn’t find the last sackful of herbs when you visited them.”
“Thank you, Kierion,” she said, stowing the empty sack and wizard cloaks under the shelves, out of sight. She leaned close. “Don’t get caught consorting with wizards or the council will have your hide. For the Egg’s sake, make sure you bathe before someone notices that you reek of mage flame.” She passed him a small pouch of aromatic herbs. “These might help.”
“Marlies?” a man called from the infirmary.
She peeked through the curtain and drew back in alarm, holding a finger to her lips. She slipped out. “Hello, Tonio, how can I help you?” Her voice got further away as she moved along the infirmary.
“Cut my finger helping a young dragon corps’ member to slit his seams so he could hide his clear-mind berries. Sharding nuisance, because it’s my bow finger.”
“Let’s have a look where the light is better,” Marlies replied. “I remember slitting my seams for the first time. I nearly ruined my jerkin.”
“You were one of my best in dragon corps,” Tonio said. “A shame you had to …”
Kierion hadn’t known that Marlies had been one of Tonio’s spies, years before. He slipped out while their backs were turned and hurried along the tunnels to his cavern. He’d visit Adelina straight after he’d bathed.
When he got to his cavern, the door was ajar. Had he left it that way? He didn’t think so. Hand on his sword pommel, he entered the room.
Adelina was sitting, red-eyed, on a chair next his bed.
“Adelina? What’s wrong?”
“What isn’t?” She ran to him, flinging her arms around him and burying her head in his chest. Her shoulders shook. “My brother’s been captured, I got hurt by tharuks, and you were missing. Thank the Egg, you’re all right.”
Awkwardly he patted her back, but didn’t know quite where to put his arms, so he gave her a quick hug. She was so small her head only came up to his chest. So cute, so full of life and energy—and so young. Oh, gods, what was he doing? His face warm, he pulled away.
“You
smell odd,” she said, “like …” Her mouth made an ‘oh’ shape and her eyes flew wide. Her eyes fell to the small herb pouch he was carrying. “You’re not sick, are you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
He placed the pouch by his bathtub in the corner of his room. “Ah, my cavern’s not usually this messy.” Kierion busied himself, tidying up his discarded boots, breeches and a shirt. Shards, why couldn’t he stop blushing. This was silly. She was only fourteen summers and he was seventeen. There was no way—
“You’ve been with Fenni again, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” He sighed.
“I know I can’t stop you, so be careful,” Adelina said. “I don’t want to lose someone else I care about.” She gave one of her brave smiles, mock-punched him on the arm—the lightest punch he’d ever received—and marched out the door.
Kierion rubbed his arm where she’d just touched him. Someone else she cared about? A glow warmed his chest as he prepared to take a bath.
“She likes you,” Riona melded. “I told her you were all right, but she was very worried.”
“It must be hard, having her brother captured.”
“Harder than you’ll ever know. Have you forgotten that I can meld with other dragons? I’ve seen Erob’s memories. I know what her and Roberto have been through, and it’s far from pretty.”
§
When Kierion woke, he sprang out of bed. Shards, he’d been dreaming of holding Adelina and slept in. He yanked on his clothes and flung his cloak around him. His stomach rumbled, but he didn’t dare go past the mess cavern or the kitchens. Striding out to the snowy ledge, he melded with Riona. “Did you hunt last night?”
“Yes, but Septimor might be suspicious because he was at the hunting grounds too.”
Not good news. “Oh well, nothing we can do now. Except get going, so no one sees us.”
Once again, Kierion hid under his invisibility cloak, and they took to the sky, winging out toward Dragon’s Teeth.
“Bad news, again.”
“What?” It was hard to see with his hood pulled so low.
“Antonika is on the far ridge behind us. I’m sure she’s spotted me.”
Just his luck to be noticed by the spymaster’s dragon. “Well, she can’t see me,” said Kierion. “So we should be fine.”
A chill wind gusted from the north. His cape billowed, rising up to his knees. Shards, shards and double shards. He’d spoken too soon. “My cloak. Do you think Antonika saw me?”
“Hard to say, but Master Giddi is right, we’d better think of some mighty fine excuses before we get back, or you’ll be banned from riding me.”
“Banned?”
“The punishment for fraternizing with wizards.”
Kierion swallowed. It had only been four days since he’d imprinted with Riona, but the thought of being without her left a gaping cold hole in his stomach.
“Don’t worry, I feel the same.”
“Then why are we doing this?”
“Because we’re riders of fire. It’s our job to wipe out those infernal tharuks and send Commander Zens back to where he came from. We can’t do that without wizards.”
Riona’s words sent fire burning through his belly and limbs, blasting away the cold ache he’d felt. Kierion’s veins thrummed as if they were molten. Riona sped over the peaks of Dragon’s Teeth in a blur, leaving the hold-bound prejudice of the Council of the Twelve Dragon Masters behind.
“This is incredible. What’s happening?”
“That’s what it means to be a rider of fire. When a bond between dragon and rider is strong, the rider can harness the dragon’s energy.”
It was incredible. Kierion felt as if he could let go and soar through the sky on his own.
Riona chuckled. “Don’t get too carried away. I still want a rider tomorrow.” She popped an image into Kierion’s mind.
Flinging back his hood, he sucked his breath in. “Can we?”
“I don’t see why not,” Riona replied, “as long as we’re careful. The queen and the Queen’s Rider do this all the time.”
Kierion undid his harness and pulled his legs up, standing on the saddle. Far below, the treacherous slopes of Dragon’s Teeth descended into the Great Spanglewood Forest. Shards, imagine being impaled on one of those pine tips below. Kierion pushed the thought away. Every new adventure had risks. “Ready?” he asked. Of course she was.
He jumped.
Kierion plunged through the air, his stomach rushing up into his throat and nearly strangling him. The wind ripped tears from his eyes. His cloak flapped around him as he plummeted toward the trees.
“You’re a rider of fire,” Riona said. “Let go of your fear, and relax.”
Relax? Was she mad?
But then Kierion felt it—that fire burning through his muscles and surging through his heart. He let his body go floppy. Riona dived past him, her purple scales flashing as the sun peeked over the distant peaks to the West. Gods, she was glorious. His heart expanded until it was big enough to swallow the entire Spanglewood Forest.
She swooped beneath him and flicked her tail against his rump, slowing his descent. Again she swatted him with her tail, bouncing him in the air. He landed in her saddle with an “Ooff!”
Kierion couldn’t help it—he whooped, his voice ringing off the mountains and echoing over the forest.
Riona joined him, roaring in triumph. His blood sang. This was what it meant to be a dragon rider.
§
Tonio raised his far-seers—two joined tubes containing magic glass that enabled him to see things at a distance. Years ago, Zens had brought a few through the world gate as gifts—before they’d known he was evil. Tonio and Marlies had often used them while spying. What had Zens called them? Binolars?
“Yes, that’s Kierion all right.” He patted Antonika’s back. “Thank you for waking me.” The fool’s jubilant cry bounced off the mountainside below. What was the point in having a mage cloak if you made enough noise to wake the dragon gods? And why had he been sneaking out in the first place?
Tonio shook his head. Kierion was up to something.
“I recognize their mood,” said Antonika, landing in a depression between two boulders, high on Dragon’s Teeth—one of Tonio’s favorite places to lurk on the edge of Spanglewood Forest. “He’s just felt the fire burning in his veins for the first real time.”
That made Tonio chuckle. “Remember, that very first time?”
“I do.”
Warmth flooded Tonio as Antonika’s memory cascaded through him. Gods, those had been sweet times—full of hope and anticipation. He’d been in love, too, and the whole world had been bright and rosy.
Before Amato.
That was how he saw life now: before and after Amato. There was nothing else. Amato’s actions had taken his life from happiness into bitter ashes of desolation. His former life had disintegrated, dispersed on chill winds. Fleeing Naobia, he’d come to Dragons’ Hold and buried himself in work, soon rising to become spymaster. But even that had done nothing to ease the anger burning inside him. Nothing could bring his beloved Rosita back.
He hunkered down in the saddle, resting his arms on Antonika’s ruby neck scales, and raised the far-seers again. There Kierion was, dancing along the treetops on Riona, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The lad probably hadn’t. Lars had talked about Kierion so glowingly, Tonio had hoped to induct him into the ranks of dragon corps. Someone that stealthy would make a good spy. But now he wasn’t so sure. Shrieking above the forest while out for a joyride … What was that damned fool doing? Kierion and Riona had disappeared among the trees.
“Where have they gone?”
“Mage Gate,” Antonika mind-melded, adjusting her feet in the snow.
Tonio dropped the far-seers, letting them swing from the string around his neck, while he counted the days on his fingers. Yes, it was the week of winter solstice. “That flaming fool. He’s sillier than I thought.”
His eyes and ear
s across the realm had told him that Naobian mages had traveled north to Spanglewood. Wizards from all over Dragons’ Realm would be dueling at Mage Gate. Not wanting to wait for Spring Equinox, they’d moved their wizard trials forward to Winter Solstice. For eighteen years, ever since Master Giddi had closed the gate there, mages held duels at Mage Gate to hone their powers—a sad tribute to the wizards who’d been lost in Zens’ world. That fool, Mazyka, had opened the gate that had let Zens in, and taken many of the wizards through. After the slaughter of Anakisha’s last battle, the councils had forced Master Giddi to shut the world gate. It had nearly killed Giddi, locking most of the mage population out of Dragons’ Realm, but he’d had no choice. And now they were left, still battling to exterminate Zens and his monsters.
Thrusting the far-seers in his saddlebag, Tonio melded with Antonika. “Whatever Kierion’s up to, I hope he doesn’t break his neck.”
“That would be a shame,” she said.
“It would,” he agreed, “because he’d deny me the pleasure of breaking it for him.”
“So, you’re going to report him to Lars?”
Tonio snorted. “Lars will want evidence.”
“We could follow them.”
“No, I’ll bide my time and pounce when the opportunity is right.”
§
Fenni clambered into the saddle behind Kierion, and Jael hopped on behind Fenni.
“Are you sure you can carry three?” Kierion asked Riona.
“Why do you think these saddles are so large?” Riona tensed her haunches and sprang. In moments, they were high above the trees. The extra weight hadn’t slowed her at all.
“Of course it didn’t. You’re all lightweights.”
Kierion chuckled.
“Over there,” said Jael, pointing to the west. A thin spiral of smoke rose through the trees. “That’s where we saw tharuks camping, late last night, near a hut they’d destroyed. Remember, we’re not playing heroes today. I want to get in and rescue any people taken as slaves.”
They really needed another dragon to carry captives.
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