by Melody Rose
“I do not think that is what will impress her,” I confessed to my djer. “She needs to know I am dedicated to her.”
“Then do as she says,” Uri argued. “Lead one of the groups and show her that her ideas matter. Because frankly, it is the best one we have.”
I cleared my throat and caught the larger group’s attention. Eva’s blue eyes bore into mine with hope and determination that I could not deny.
“We are going to need a copy of the riddle,” I started, the words not coming easily. “If we are going to have two groups, we will need a copy so we can decipher it when we get to the coast.”
“Done,” Eva agreed immediately. “Is there anything else?”
“You need to decide who is going with who,” I added. “Give us our assignments, Lady Eva.”
I didn’t know why I used her formal title. Some part of me thought it would give her confidence. Another part was spiteful for what I knew was going to happen when she gave these assignments. A final part liked the sound of it on my lips, and I begged to whisper the title in her ear when we were in bed together again.
Eva took a big breath in, visible by the large rise in her chest. She puffed out a heavy breath of air that curled out into the chilly day. She wiggled her nose back and forth as she looked from person to person, dragon to dragon. Eva had no idea how beautiful she was, even just standing there thinking about what to do next. I would have to think of a way to show her if I could. If she would let me.
“Kehn is going to lead Heloise, Stella, and Troylan. Chyndron will go with them along with Timone, Myels, and Lucien,” Eva announced. She swallowed before continuing. “Which leaves Monte, Gideonia, and Zulu with Julei, Freja, Hannan, and me.”
A pang whacked my chest when Eva mentioned her and Hannan next to one another. Jealousy settled in my stomach like a cat gearing up for a nap at the thought of them getting to spend all of this time together. I rolled my lips over my teeth and resolved to focus on the task at hand. I could not let my mind wander into the possibilities of what they would be or could be doing together.
Naturally, the two groups physically separated themselves and stood across from each other. I had four dragons behind me and three of my most trusted people beside me. Eva stepped across the divide and held out a parchment to me.
“Will this do, or do you want another one?” Eva offered.
I took the parchment with the riddle and rolled it up into a tube shape. “This should be fine. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Eva said. She looked at me with wide eyes, seeming as though she wanted to say more… but she didn’t. Instead, she stepped back into line and said something to Monte.
I turned to my crew and took stock. “I think the only djer that is going to be a problem is Uri.”
“Right,” Heloise agreed as she looked about. “Xavier will fly alongside, but Finneis does not do well in the cold, and Tipton is too large to carry.”
I thought Stella’s sunbird djer might be able to join us, but I understood the bird’s choice. It was nearly impossible to bring an elephant along for the ride, but I wanted to bring Uri if possible. I looked over at the sphinx, still lounging on the wall.
“Hey, Uri,” I shouted, this time speaking to her out loud so everyone could hear. “How do you want to fly?”
“I prefer to keep my feet on the ground, thank you very much,” Uri said with a sniff in the air.
“As much as that is preferable,” I said, not bothering to hide my annoyance, “it is not practical.”
“We can make a contraption for her to ride in,” Stella offered.
“Or she can ride in my claws,” the white dragon suggested. He waded forward and lifted one webbed foot to show. “They are soft, and I am sure the sphinx could easily fit in my grip.”
“I prefer him to a blanket that could rip,” Uri announced, making her decision. She leaped off the wall and sauntered over to the white, webbed dragon, her tail swishing in her wake. “I sense he will not drop me.”
“Not on my life, dear sphinx,” the dragon said with a polite bow.
“Great,” I said, trying to hide my exasperation. “Everyone else, pick a dragon.”
Naturally, I ended up with Chyndron, the largest and oldest of the clan. I once asked to fly with him, but he refused. I was nervous to ask him again, but I hoped that he would oblige this time. It simply made sense for the two leaders to travel together.
Before I had a chance to ask Chyndron, however, a voice called out to us. Donnel, the captain of the guard and my mentor, jogged forward with one hand raised in the air. He wore a fur cloak that danced behind him as he ran. He kept the hood up over his head to protect his square face from the cold.
“I am glad I caught you,” Donnel said with a bright smile. “I wanted to see you all off.”
“It’s good to see you, Donnel,” Eva greeted him with a hug.
The captain hugged her back, although he didn’t fully wrap his arms around her. It was more of a pat on the back. Donnel still was not used to Eva’s refusal of formality. Had she adhered to it, they never would have embraced, keeping it to bows and curtsies only.
“Do you all have everything you need?” Donnel asked the group like a concerned father, seeing his children off to school.
“I believe so,” Eva answered for us.
“Think again, Lady Eva,” Donnel said with a sly smile and a raised finger. “The stonesmith had these specially made for you, and his daughter forgot to bring them with this morning.”
The young Mason child gasped and brought her bag around to the front so she could search through it. Her face fell suddenly. “I cannot believe I forgot them.”
“Not to worry, Julei,” Donnel said with an extra twinkle in his eye. “Your father reached out to a local guard, and they made their way to me.”
Julei puffed out her big cheeks once filled with air. Eva looked between the two of them curiously.
“What are you talking about?” she wondered.
“These.” Donnel pulled a flat parcel wrapped with a loose leather strap. He uncoiled it from the parcel and revealed a new pouch of chalks. They were pristine cylinders only the thickness of a quill.
Eva’s jaw dropped open at seeing them. “These are the best ones Kaian’s ever created!”
“He said the same thing,” Donnel confirmed. “He did not want them to go to waste.”
“They will not,” Eva assured him. “Please pass along my gratitude and my compliments.”
“Absolutely,” Donnel agreed. “I will add that I had some magical enhancements placed on the chalk.”
“What do you mean?” Eva asked with a bright and intrigued smile on her face.
“They cannot break,” Donnel explained, matching Eva’s smile. “They cannot melt, and they can work even when wet.”
“I don’t think I’ll be needing to draw underwater anytime soon,” Eva said with a giggle.
“Perhaps not,” Donnel agreed, “but writing messages in the rain or marking your path in the snow, those might be useful ways to use to the chalks.”
“Thank you so much, Donnel.” Eva clutched the pouch in her hands and rubbed her thumb over the leather.
“It is my pleasure, Eva,” Donnel replied. “Now, I believe you have everything you need.”
Eva looked around at the group of us as she gripped her new chalks tightly. “We’ll see you guys on the other side, yeah?” she called out to us.
Heloise and Stella ran over to give her quick hugs. Troylan saluted from his spot by Lucien. I merely nodded. My expression was grim and serious, though I wished I could have lightened up for her. More than anything, I wanted her to know how I felt, but this was not the time. This was the time for action, to complete the mission of finding our half of the key and getting it back to her. It was the first step to defeating an enemy that plagued my home since before I was born.
Now, I was with a group of people that had a chance at ending the war. We had the opportunity to bring peace
to Andsdyer so everyone could live without fear of sudden and incurable contamination. So that no one would have to go through the trauma like Hannan and I experienced in our youth.
“We will see you on the other side,” I called back, offering her one last smile, which she returned.
I planted that image of Eva smiling in my mind, to carry with me on this long journey to God knows where. It would get me through the bumpy rides on the back of a dragon, through the uncomfortable wades through the forest, and the long night watches. I would think of Eva’s hopeful, nervous, and excited smile.
We watched them fly off first. The three dragons launched into the air, with Eva, Monte, and Julei leading the way. They soared off to the east, into the sunrise.
As she flew away, I hoped Eva knew what this meant to all of us. I knew she was nervous, but this was more hope than any of us had had in our entire lives. That was all her. I hoped if she did not know her worth now that she would discover it along the way.
7
We flew in a v formation, like the tip of a triangle with me at the head. Julei sat in front of me with a basket in her lap. Her djer, a small black cat with matching violet eyes named Neelo, huddled in the basket, unsettled by the fierce wind and altitude.
On my left, Zulu flew with Hannan on her back. He shot me a smile when I glanced over at him and found my face grow warm. The caretaker pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, though the gesture was more habitual than necessary. The wind pressed the glassed into his face, making circular indents around his eyes.
To the right, Freja rode Gideonia. The icy females were made for one another. Their stoic and sometimes harsh manners complemented each other. The image of the pair stuck out against the dull blue background. The fur around Freja’s hood rippled in the wind making it difficult to see her face, but her back hunched forward, leaning against the rushing air. Gideonia’s navy blue scales receded in waves, looking like a lake in the new moon, dark and glassy.
I questioned my decision for the thousandth time. I hadn’t thought too hard about how to split up the group. All I knew was that Julei had to stay with Kehn and me to lead the second party. He was the only one I trusted to do a good job at guiding everyone, which made sense considering he was second in command of the king’s guard. Which meant I needed another guard with me. I figured Freja was a better bet and gave the other group Troylan, especially since they had to have Hannan and Stella, who were all but useless in combat. Sure, Stella had passed that test in the introduction process. However, it was easily her weakest asset.
As for the dragons, that was more difficult. Since Julei was riding with me, we needed one less, so the other group could have four. Monte obviously would go with me, but I didn’t know what compelled me to pick Gideonia and Zulu. I had better connections with all of the other dragons. Something told me that Chyndron was another good choice to help Kehn lead the group, but the other three would have been better company than the always silent Zulu and the hard-to-please Gideonia.
If I were asked, I would presume that the navy blue dragon was still very angry with me about using the gift she gave me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I had a weird need to prove myself to Gideonia. I didn’t need her approval, but I wanted it. I didn’t want to be a cruel queen who ruled by fear or spite. I wanted my subjects… God, it was so weird to think of them that way… to like me. I wanted them to serve because they wanted to, not because they were forced to.
It might have been too much of a stretch for a new ruler. But there was a phrase that stuck with me from a high school history class. I couldn’t believe that it would ever come in handy, especially with me personally, but the words rang in my head while we flew eastward.
“You can either lead with love or lead with fear,” my teacher recited. “Subjects either served their leaders because they loved them or because they feared them. Sometimes it was a perverted mix of the two, but almost all leaders can fall into those two categories.”
We were studying dictators, and the concept intrigued me. We sorted lots of leaders, from United States Presidents to former kings and queens of England into leaders of love or leaders of fear. As I suddenly found myself in a position of power, expected to lead others into undoubtedly dangerous territory, I wanted to be a leader of love.
Though with Gideonia, I was starting to think I feared her. Maybe not her physically but fear her disapproval, which was no way to lead.
I cracked my neck back and forth and shifted a bit. My right buttcheek started to tingle, and I knew it would go numb soon. We’d been flying for several hours now, and while I enjoyed the sensation of being up in the air, I knew we would need to take a break soon. The dragons would need rest, and we humans would have to stretch our limbs to keep from getting too stiff.
What worried me the most, however, was something other than our bodies or the approval of the dragons. The further east we traveled, the colder it got. Clouds rolled in like there were generated from a fog machine and congested the air. I felt Julei shiver, though she tried to keep it minimal.
I rubbed her arms with my gloved hands. “Are you alright?”
The young girl didn’t answer vocally. Instead, she nodded her head vigorously as if the faster she moved, the more convinced I would be.
“Julei,” I said with a scolding tone. I looked over her shoulder, trying to get a better view of her face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she chattered. I heard her teeth clack.
“Okay, we need to lower down and get you by a fire,” I decided.
“No!” Julei protested. “I’m fine. We need to cover more ground.”
“It will do us no good if you’re a popsicle,” I argued.
“A what?” Julei’s already high voice rose an octave with the question.
I wanted to kick myself. After being here so long, I had almost gotten rid of all my modern references, but they still slipped through every so often.
“Nevermind,” I said with an embarrassed shake of my head. “I bet you’re not the only one who’s cold. Neelo must be freezing in there.”
Julei leaned forward to peek in her basket. She unfolded the blanket covering the cat. When she did, an extra tough gust of wind blew back the folds. Julei rushed to cover the exposed top with her body. The cat meowed below so loudly that I could hear it through the folds of Julei’s jacket.
“Come on,” I said encouragingly. “Let’s land. It’ll be good for everyone.”
Finally, Julei relented with a nod. I didn’t give her a second to recant her decision. I reached out to Monte using our mental connection.
“Hey, Monte,” I said to the dragon. “We’re going to stop off for now. It’s getting colder, and I’m sure everyone could use a break.”
“It is as though you read my mind,” Monte said, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. “I was about the suggest the same because I am afraid it is going to snow.”
“Snow?” I blurted out. “Well, we need to find shelter quickly then.”
“Agreed,” Monte said definitively.
The green dragon turned to look at his companions on either side of him and signaled them. The two female dragons returned his signal, and Monte led the group into a descent. We flew closer to the earth and found an opening in the trees where it was safe for us to land.
I hopped off first, and my bones creaked when I did so. Before I had a chance to stretch or release some of my muscle tension, I reached up to help Julei. She handed me the basket with Neelo and slid down Monte’s scales all on her own.
I took the chance to peek in on the cat. The poor thing curled in the corner of the basket, making the weight uneven. It wore a little purple sweater that matched its eyes. When it looked up at me, it hissed, and I quickly put the blanket back over him.
“I don’t think he likes me very much,” I said as I handed the basket back to Julei.
“He doesn’t like most people, unfortunately,” Julei reported, more of a fact than any sort of apology or
sorrow.
“But he likes you, right?” I asked. Though it seemed like a foolish question, I wondered if other djers might not like those they bonded with.
“Oh, yes,” Julei said with a beaming smile.
So much for that theory.
“She will come around, you know,” Julei said suddenly.
“Huh?” I wondered what the young girl was talking about.
“I don’t know who,” Julei answered as her gaze darted to the ground. “But I know you were fretting about someone, and I just know that she will come around, and you will know it. There will be no doubt.”
I cocked my head to one side and looked at Julei curiously. “You a mind reader now too?”
“No,” Julei said with an exasperated eye roll. “Sometimes, it comes as feelings, not always as visions. Especially when people are giving off such vibrant energy, like you when you worry.”
“You feel it when I worry?” I asked, suddenly worried about all my worrying, and then that worry grew into more worry about the first worry.
“Yes,” Julei said with big eyes and a slow nod. “Like right now. Stop it, please. It doesn’t bother me, and it doesn’t happen all the time.”
“Sorry,” I grimaced.
I took a deep breath and tried to clear my thoughts, so as not to bother Julei too much. As I inhaled for a second time, I noticed the first flakes of snow fall from the sky.
“Well, what do you know?” I said sarcastically. “Monte, you were right.”
“I am always right,” Monte replied with the same amount of sarcasm. “Why does that still surprise you?”
I shot the dragon a glare, which he responded to with a wink.
“Come on all,” I called out to the rest of the group. “We need to find some shelter before the weather gets worse.”
“Any ideas on where we can go?” Hannan asked.
“Preferably, we need a cave or something we can brace ourselves against,” Freja answered. “We will need to keep a fire going. We should gather some wood before it gets too wet.”
