by Lisa Rector
Aneirin came into view, shouldering Einion. “One hungry little man wants to see you.”
He slid Einion into Ahnalyn’s arms and drifted a few paces away while Ahnalyn latched Einion to her breast, unobserved.
She watched Aneirin as his back was turned. He wore a silver, short-collared, sleeveless tunic, showing off his bare arms. Bees bounced against his hand, which hovered over a few flower blossoms. The arm wrapped behind his lower back sported a silver cuff around his wrist.
“Are you ready for today? You’ll love it,” he said, maintaining his stance.
“I’m ready. I want to see more dragons. After all this time, it’d be nice to fly on Seren.”
Einion was making busy, sucking noises, which drew Ahnalyn’s attention. His nose had the most adorable swoop, and his eyebrows bristled like fuzzy little caterpillar hairs. Ahnalyn ran her fingers lightly over his curling hair.
“Catrin’s calling her dragon since we can’t communicate with ours. Not having a dragon stone is such a disadvantage.” Aneirin picked a yellow flower and sniffed it. “Cerys should be here soon.”
“You’re silent about last night.” Einion finished nursing, and Ahnalyn tucked him up on her shoulder to burp him.
Aneirin turned around and sat in the grass beside Ahnalyn, hugging his knees. “I thought you wanted to avoid talking about last night. Just remember, I didn’t bring it up.”
“I like how you pass the blame to me.”
“Hmmm.”
“What?” Ahnalyn smacked Einion harder, and he burped.
“Our conversations usually turn sour. I was going to be the one to let it go.” Aneirin cocked his head to the side and ran his hand over his head. The sun forced his jade eyes into narrow slits.
“Uhmm.” He had a point there, but Ahnalyn let him continue.
“I know I’ve been pushy… maybe a bit too physically personal.”
“I was beginning to think that’s how emrys are.” She brought Einion around to look at him as he busily shoved his whole fist into his mouth.
Aneirin grinned. “We’re physically sensitive as well as intuitive. We communicate deep emotion by touch, stronger than what is conveyed by discernment.”
“I saw how you greeted your parents.” Ahnalyn reached out and touched Aneirin’s hand. Life would speed up after this moment, and Ahnalyn wanted to let the tranquility linger.
Anxiety pinched her heart. She squeezed Aneirin’s hand, realizing that the emotion stemmed from him. He wanted his dragon stone back. He didn’t need to verbalize it. Ahnalyn’s own neck was too bare, and she missed that little voice in her head. Seren had been encouraging during difficult times. Oh how Ahnalyn took this for granted.
“We’ll recover our stones. I know it,” she said.
Aneirin smiled. “Impressive. You sensed that.”
“It wasn’t too difficult. You were pushing it at me, weren’t you?”
“Maybe.” Aneirin looked up in time to see a dragon fly overhead. “She’s here.” He pulled Ahnalyn to her feet, and they headed back to the house.
***
Catrin greeted her dragon with a kiss. Cerys was the most astounding shade of teal Ahnalyn had ever seen. She didn’t think such a color existed in nature. Ahnalyn crept up to Cerys and touched her scales, confirming she was real.
“Isn’t she lovely?” Catrin asked as she rubbed Cerys’s scales down. “I have the prettiest dragon in the realm.”
Cerys spoke, her voice smooth and elegant. “Catrin gives me too much credit. Come, Cephias and Seren are eager to see you.”
Aneirin and Ahnalyn climbed up, and they were off, leaving Einion in Catrin’s capable hands.
Cerys lighted off the ground with incredible grace. With a few flaps of her wings, they were soaring high in the sky. The morning sun warmed the side of Ahnalyn’s face as they flew south. Ahnalyn let her head loll back, unintentionally against Aneirin’s shoulder, and inhaled a huge breath of air. She was acclimating to the wind in her face and the thrill of flying.
Aneirin tapped her shoulder, and Ahnalyn opened her eyes. He pointed into the distance. “There are your dragons. When we arrived the other day, most were asleep for the night.”
The dragons looked tiny in the distance, but Ahnalyn could see the specks of different colors in varying hues.
A citron dragon flew up on the right. “Bright day to you, Cerys.”
“As well to you,” Cerys spoke in reply.
The dragon gave a short puff of fire and flew off.
“What was that about?” Ahnalyn asked.
“Greetings. Cerys is honored in the circle of the High Dragoness,” Aneirin said. “They have their own hierarchy of order. We’re merely their riders and protectors.”
Ahnalyn nodded her head in understanding. “Gorlassar is so huge. I feel so insignificant. I have much to learn about this world.”
“Give it time. It’s not necessary to learn everything now.”
“How far away are the training grounds?”
“The training grounds are somewhat of a journey, about an hour to reach them. The dragons spread out, living in more than one valley. They like their space. It helps to ensure they don’t run out of their food supply. The dragons actually manage the wildlife population. It looks natural, but they know everything that goes on in their realm.”
Aneirin and Ahnalyn reached a sprawling, grassy field, which stretched out a good distance, on the far side of the valley. At least a dozen dragons flew with young riders in the sky.
“Riders first fly when they reach fourteen years of age,” Aneirin said.
“I’m fairly close.” She was eighteen.
Aneirin touched her arm. “Good, you’ll fit right in.”
Near the edge of the field, Ahnalyn saw Cephias and Seren. Seren is as magnificent as Cerys, she thought. Her shimmering, pearly scales were nothing like Cerys’s vivid teal ones, but they stood out with their own beauty, like thousands of swirling rainbows in the sunlight.
Ahnalyn and Aneirin climbed off Cerys, and she flew away.
“Finally!” Seren said. “I miss having a rider. It’s been too long. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Except it’ll be boring without your dragon stone connection,” Cephias said. “The real fun is scaring your new rider to death and feeling how terrified he is.”
Aneirin gave Cephias a playful squeeze around his long neck. His arms barely encircled him. Following Aneirin’s lead and understanding the idea of how most riders greet their dragons, Ahnalyn timidly touched Seren’s nose. Seren pushed with enthusiasm into her hand.
“What should I know about flying?” Ahnalyn patted Seren on her head, which was as massive as Ahnalyn’s torso. Not to mention, Seren’s mouth was generous enough to accommodate Ahnalyn’s whole head.
“You just have to hold on,” Seren said.
“For dear life.” Cephias laughed.
Seren gave him a swat with her tail. “It’s a matter of becoming used to the gravitational shifts when I rise up or go into a dive. Flight is smoother when I’m gliding, but as you have experienced while flying on Cephias, it can become turbulent. When I rode with your mother, she had her dragon stone. I knew where she wanted to go before she even said it. Without our connection, you’ll have to shout directions unless I’m leading. Since it’s your first flight, I’ll do the directing. Beginners use a harness for safety, but once you’re more experienced you grip the saddle and use your light to secure the hold. Foregoing the harness is safer in battle. If the dragon crashed, you’d want to be able to leap off to avoid becoming crushed under your dragon.”
“That sounds scary. I thought you’ve never been in battle,” Ahnalyn said.
“Not real battle,” Aneirin replied. “We have mock campaigns we’ve been trained through. It’s become a game to acquire a target or objective. We teach the dragons evasive moves against light-energy attacks. Riders also learn how to shield their dragons while mounting an offensive as well.”
“Wi
ll the dragons be ready for a battle?” Ahnalyn’s shoulders tightened. “I have a lot to learn in regards to controlling my light.”
“You’re not going into battle. Leave that up to the rest of us. A practice scrimmage is in three days. You can watch and see how skilled we are. Nothing to worry about.”
Ahnalyn stiffened, but then relaxed. Aneirin didn’t know she intended to face Caedryn. Whether this would be in the middle of the battle or on her own, she didn’t know. She hoped Aneirin didn’t sense her resolution. “This is against humans on the ground and against Lord Caedryn with his unknown abilities. Not dragon against dragon.”
Aneirin flashed a smile. “Stop worrying. Leave that to me.”
“You aren’t worried, are you?”
“Enough of that, Aneirin,” Seren said. “Let’s have fun today. You’re making Ahnalyn stress.”
Ahnalyn climbed onto Seren and sat in the smooth leather saddle, molded to make a rider comfortable. Aneirin secured Ahnalyn in a harness, which slipped over her shoulders and around her waist and attached to the saddle in the front and back.
“In case Seren does some fancy turns—she’s very acrobatic.” Aneirin winked. “You won’t go anywhere. I’ll be on Cephias in the sky with you.”
The harness left enough wiggle room so Ahnalyn didn’t feel too confined—almost too much wiggle room. Aneirin always held her tight when Cephias took off or dove, but how did he stay on?
“How do I stay—?”
Seren started into a few bounding steps, preventing Ahnalyn from continuing. Even with the padding under the saddle, Ahnalyn bounced up and came down with a jarring impact.
“Ready, here we go!” Seren called out.
Ahnalyn’s stomach dropped when Seren jumped into the air, rising swiftly.
The force of acceleration crammed her body down. Ahnalyn struggled to sit straight and peer in the distance at their flight path. The view was astounding. As Seren climbed higher, objects below became distant. She flew toward the mountain ridges in the east with Cephias and Aneirin following her. Ahnalyn easily adjusted her balance once Seren caught a thermal rising and glided for a while.
“Nothing to it, huh?” Seren asked.
Then Seren dove.
Ahnalyn lifted off the seat, the harness preventing her from falling to her death. “Seren!” Ahnalyn grabbed the pommel. Her body strained against the harness, and her hands ached as she grew accustomed to the rush.
Eventually Seren flapped her wings, leveled off, and ascended again.
Ahnalyn settled back in the saddle and slumped her shoulders in relief.
Cephias caught up with them. “You’re scaring her to death, Seren!”
“Just giving her a crash course,” Seren yelled, but she shrugged. “All right, very well, Ahnalyn, we’ll glide.”
“Thank you.” Ahnalyn rubbed her arms and hands, willing the muscles to ease up.
They stayed in the air, and every so often, Seren would dive. A couple of times, Seren turned sharply, causing Ahnalyn’s body to tilt way to the side, but her harness kept her from rolling out.
How does Aneirin do this? Cephias had been pretty gentle. This was eye-opening. Exhaustion crept over her. So much to learn. Flying was just another skill to acquire.
Despite the agony and exhaustion from the flying, Ahnalyn understood why Aneirin loved being on Cephias so much. The rush of the wind and the feeling of being untouchable in the sky was an incomparable sensation. Ahnalyn thought about how the comforting sun’s rays made her feel close to her mother. How had her mother felt when she flew on Seren, and why would she ever give it up?
Goose bumps stood out on her arms from the chill of the wind. Ahnalyn focused on spreading the heat from her core to her arms, legs, and numb fingers. She did a decent job, except for when Seren jerked Ahnalyn out of her concentration with an abrupt move, and the cold raced through her again. After a morning of flying around, Seren headed back to the cottage. “Dinnertime,” she called. Soon they were landing outside the front door.
Aneirin was at Ahnalyn’s side, undoing the harness before she could even fumble with the buckles. He pulled her to her feet, but her legs collapsed, unable to support her weight. Aneirin lifted her in his arms and leapt off Seren’s back, landing agilely in the grass.
“You were gripping hard. You’ll probably be sore by tonight.” Aneirin turned to Seren. “You were a little wild.”
“I told you it’s been a while since I had a rider. I guess I was a little too excited. Sorry Ahnalyn,” Seren said.
“No,” Ahnalyn said. “I wanted to do that today. It was important. Nice trial run. We’ll do it again tomorrow.”
“If you can walk tomorrow,” Cephias bellowed.
Aneirin helped Ahnalyn hobble into the house. She was greeted by the sounds of her squealing son in a swinging basket suspended from two ropes, which attached to the ceiling.
“What’s all this?” Ahnalyn asked.
“Einion and I took a trip to the city. We stopped at a couple of shops and picked up a few items,” Catrin said.
Ahnalyn’s eyes roved around the room. A few items? Baby trinkets covered every surface. Clothes, toys, blankets, and a shiny wooden cradle.
“Oh Catrin, you didn’t have to do that! How will I ever repay you?” Ahnalyn exclaimed. She didn’t have money to pay for such things.
“Oh posh! Never mind. I’ve adopted Einion as my unofficial nephew. Call me Aunty Catrin. Anyway… you’re practically family.” She dodged a whack from Aneirin as she darted to the kitchen and grabbed some bowls. “Here, eat!” Catrin laughed. “I made dinner.”
After dinner and after Ahnalyn had seen to Einion’s needs, Catrin dragged Ahnalyn to the bath again, this time adding bath salts, which she explained, would help with the aches. Catrin handed Ahnalyn a soothing herbal tea to drink while she sat in the tub.
By the time Ahnalyn finished with her bath she was nearly asleep. In fact, Catrin came in and dried Ahnalyn off with her energy’s heat, wrapped Ahnalyn in a fluffy bathrobe, and had Aneirin carry her to bed.
***
Aneirin smoothed the bedspread over Ahnalyn and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Catrin leaned against the doorframe, watching him.
“You love her,” Catrin whispered in a sing-songy voice. “Little Aneirin is in love.”
He grabbed Catrin by the elbow and escorted her away from the room. He didn’t want her waking Ahnalyn. “I’m not little anymore.”
Catrin gave Aneirin a pinch under the ribs. “You’re smothering her too much. You need to restrain yourself.”
Aneirin tugged on a strand of her long hair. “This is me restraining myself, believe me.”
“What does Mother say?”
“She likes her.”
“She didn’t say that,” Catrin replied. Einion started crying from his swing, and Catrin glided over and scooped him up.
“She didn’t have to.”
“I like her.” Catrin swished Einion side to side as she cooed at him.
“I’m glad.”
Catrin hugged Einion to her chest. “She’s not Niawen though.”
“I know! Cephias said as much. I understand that.”
“But she’s so much like her.” Catrin touched her heart and squeezed her eyes shut. “I miss her so much, Aneirin. Master of Light, how I miss her.”
Aneirin’s shoulders sagged. “I do too, I do too.”
“Don’t press Ahnalyn too much and push her away. She’s conflicted. Your feelings for her are overflowing. You should know she has one end-goal on her mind.”
Aneirin stiffened. “Caedryn.”
“Yes.” Catrin said, between oohing and ahhing at Einion. “She wants revenge.”
“I hate that villain.”
“Don’t hate. It digs at your heart-center.”
“What other word is there?”
“Pity. Pity such a creature. As dark and loathsome as you say he is, remember that tragedy made him this way. We don’t start this way. Feel sorrow
for the light he’s lost.”
“But he’s evil and dark.”
“He’s a half-emrys. He has light too.”
Aneirin slumped into an armchair. “What do you think happened to Urien’s daughter? Where is she? Caedryn is undoubtedly from her lineage. Urien should go find her now that traditions are changing.”
“It will take him a while to break from the old stigma and want to search for her and welcome her home.”
Aneirin sighed. “Oh, Catrin. I’m afraid we’re a more ignorant people than we know.”
***
Ahnalyn woke and stretched her arms lazily overhead. Her body was stiff but not terribly achy. She vaguely remembered Aneirin carrying her to bed. How long had she slept? Her swollen breasts told her she needed to feed her son, so it must have been several hours.
She entertained the thought that she should embrace the quiet life of a new mother. Einion needed her. But in her heart, she was decided. She’d be Einion’s mother for as long as her life would permit, and she hoped, after she faced Caedryn, that it would be a long time.
Life would be busy as she prepared. Einion would be neglected in the process, which pitted Ahnalyn’s heart. She was determined to become proficient enough on Seren to fly on her own, possibly into battle with the rest of the Dragon Riders. Ahnalyn hadn’t yet talked about it with Aneirin, already knowing this would be an issue. He had said she wasn’t flying into battle. We shall see.
Ahnalyn found clothes and dressed. Catrin was good at anticipating her needs—Ahnalyn had yet to ask for anything. In fact, when Ahnalyn opened the wardrobe, she found several new dresses hanging beside Aneirin’s clothes. So, Catrin had bought more than baby clothes. She must rarely have opportunity to do this. Ahnalyn smiled. I’ll let her, if this pleases her.
Catrin and Einion were in the living area. Catrin was sitting in a rocking chair and reading Einion a book in Emryn, which Ahnalyn recognized as the same language Aneirin had spoken to her.
