by Shae Ford
Rage carried him over the valley and up the side of the hill. His warrior strength pulled him swiftly across the earth, cutting through the mile between them in a handful of minutes. He thought of nothing as he ran — every bit of him was focused on finding out what the dragons wanted.
Rua’s red body seemed to swell as Kael drew closer. With his limbs sprawled and his wings unfurled, he capped the entire hill. Kael climbed as far up the slope as he could without coming within reach of Rua’s spiny muzzle. He focused on donning his dragonscale armor with one half of his mind — while the other tried not to think about the fact that what he was about to do might get him eaten.
“All right, this has gone on long enough,” Kael shouted, even though he knew the dragon could’ve heard him at a whisper. “The Kingdom is in danger. There are far too many people depending on us for you to keep us here. Either tell me what you want, or let us go.”
For a long moment, Rua did nothing. His great head stayed tucked beneath his wing and his breathing rumbled as if he was lost in a deep sleep. Kael was trying to decide whether or not to risk kicking him in the claw when the dragon raised his head.
At first, Kael thought he might’ve been mistaken. The dragon who glared at him now didn’t look a thing like Rua. Sharpness creased his brows and brought his teeth from his lips. His eyes roared inside their sockets. The scales across his muzzle burned red-hot: they flared in warning as his spiny face darkened, glowing like embers.
Kael stepped backwards when the dragon’s great voice crackled inside his chest — the noise of a tree splitting into two. But he forced himself to be calm, holding tightly to the image of his dragonscale armor.
“I don’t care how big you are. I don’t care if you’re cross. I’ll do whatever it takes to get off this blasted island — even if it means stepping over your corpse.”
The angry red glow that’d begun at Rua’s muzzle spread the length of his face. It climbed down his throat and swelled into a furnace in his chest — turning everything but the blackened scar into the face of a furnace.
Sparks spewed from his nose; flames hissed from his snout. Still, Kael didn’t move. He couldn’t imagine that the dragon who’d spent hours shouting silly words into his head could possibly be angry enough to scorch him. He wasn’t entirely sure that Rua could even get angry.
But before he could think to be surprised, the dragon attacked.
A world wrought in blinding gold descended upon him. It took all of Kael’s concentration to ignore the pounding of his heart and cling to the scales of his armor — the only protection he had left. He dropped to the ground and threw his arms over his head. He bared his teeth against the pain he knew would come, waited for the moment when his skin would begin peeling from his bones.
But it never came.
The heat was there — he could feel it pressing against the shell of his armor, devouring the ground beneath him. It roared across his ears, but didn’t burn. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared in wonder at the golden world around him. Shapes twisted in and out of the fire: men, trees, beasts, and monsters. Winged creatures, their paths cut from flame, waged battles above him.
It took a great deal of concentration to keep from getting knocked backwards as the fire roared across him. He heard the dragon’s crackling voice twined among the flames. He steeled his legs and tried not to think about the fact that what little remained of his clothes was being burned away. After what seemed like an age, Rua’s fire abated.
Kael glared through the smoke at him and didn’t flinch — not even when the dragon’s glowing eyes rolled down the entire bare length of him. The fires within them whooshed out as the yellows widened. His ears bolted up and his spiny mouth snapped shut.
It was as panicked a look as Kael had ever seen on a dragon. And he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. “Release us, or I swear by the sky above me that I’ll kill you.”
He took a step forward, and Rua snapped back. His great claws gouged pits into the earth. The sudden rise of his wings toppled a nearby tree. He shot into the air — crumbling the whole backside of the hill in his haste to escape.
The sudden blast of Rua’s wings knocked him off his feet. But Kael pulled himself up quickly. “That’s right — fly off!” he howled at the dragon’s back, the surge of his strength pulling him to his toes. “Come near us again, and I’ll flatten you!”
*******
It was done. He was certain Rua wouldn’t be back.
Kael jogged into camp and pulled on his stained clothes and armor. He gathered their things and waited at the edge of the woods for Kyleigh’s return. Though he was still furious with her for whatever it was she’d done to him, there would be time to argue about it later.
For now, they had to leave the Motherlands while the way was clear.
It wasn’t long before the beat of a familiar set of wings drew his eyes skywards. Kyleigh dipped from the clouds and drifted towards him. He forgot about being angry with her: they were finally free. He raised a fist as he charged to meet her.
His excitement was short-lived.
Another dragon swooped in behind Kyleigh. It was only slightly larger than her, and covered in snow-white scales. His stomach lurched when Kyleigh struck the ground before him. The second white dragon glided in behind her and landed softly upon the grass. Its yellow eyes watched without blinking.
Kael didn’t know what to think. His gaze never shifted from the second white dragon — not even when Kyleigh blasted her hot breath through his curls. He reached distractedly for her muzzle.
What in blazes have you been doing?
“What have I been doing? What have you been doing?” He grabbed her around the horns and stood on his toes to glare at her. “What did you do to me?” he hissed.
I didn’t do anything to you.
“Come off it, Kyleigh. I know you hexed me, or something. I’ve been wandering around here like an idiot for Kingdom knows how long while you’ve been off visiting …” he waved a hand at the white dragon, who watched curiously from over Kyleigh’s shoulder, “your family?”
She is not my family, was her vehement reply. This is His-Rua. She’s been sent here because you’ve been pestering her mate with what he seems to think is magic … and now, he’s afraid to come near you.
There was the slightest tinge of amusement in Kyleigh’s voice and for a moment, her eyes brightened. Kael was still trying to piece it all together. He craned to look at the white dragon, who’d inched closer — her ears perked for his voice.
Kael realized he would have to speak carefully. He tried to shove his thoughts into some sort of order. This is Rua’s mate?
Yes.
And she actually calls herself His-Rua?
It’s a dragon thing, Kyleigh said with an impatient sigh. The females take the names of their males. But that’s not important. Why would Rua think you have magic?
Kael couldn’t help but grin as he thought about the look on the red dragon’s face, how he’d torn up the hillside in his haste to get away. He tried to torch me. But it didn’t exactly work out for him.
Kyleigh’s eyes brightened again, and Kael forgot to be angry. He was just happy that she seemed to be coming back to herself.
I’d very much like to hear more about that later. But for now, I’m afraid we have to leave.
They’re tossing us out of the Motherlands?
No, unfortunately. The darkness returned to her glare. We’ve been summoned for a scolding, I think. But as Rua’s afraid to come to us, we’ve got to go to him. Oh … and it’s probably best if he goes on thinking you’re a mage, she added with a sideways look. He made such a fool of himself that I imagine he’ll kill you, if he ever learns the truth.
*******
The land rolled beneath them as they followed the white dragon into Rua’s domain.
It was obvious she was in no hurry to get there. His-Rua dipped and looped her way towards the great mountain in the middle of the island. She followed the gusts
of wind that swirled around them, letting them fill her wings and carry her along. She seemed content to ride them to wherever they blew — even if that meant flitting several miles to the east or west.
And much to Kael’s annoyance, Kyleigh was happy to follow her.
The white dragon hummed as she drifted further from the mountain. Her voice was soft and high, like a whistle that trailed the wind. Kael figured that since he was stuck a mile in the air with nothing else to do, he might as well listen.
He flattened his palms against Kyleigh’s scales and concentrated. The white dragon’s song became strange words in Kyleigh’s mind, and Kael heard their meaning trail behind them:
What do you think of our Motherlands?
Beautiful, Kyleigh sang back. I’ve never seen such a sky.
Fate knew the reach of our wings, the depth of our hearts, the span of our eyes … The white dragon tucked her wings and arched back, looping behind them. So she gave us a land we would never tire of loving.
They flew side-by-side, now. Had Kyleigh tilted a hand’s breadth to her left, the tips of their wings would’ve touched. Kael glanced over and saw the white dragon was watching him intently.
Her scaly face was smooth: there wasn’t a snarl upon her lips or a bend in her brows. The slits in her eyes were wide and unguarded. Had she been human, he might’ve thought she looked … kind.
But she wasn’t human. And so far, he hadn’t had much luck with dragons.
What do you call this one?
Kael, Kyleigh said — and he couldn’t help but notice how her blood warmed with the word.
A Kael that you have taken for a mate.
How did you know? Kyleigh said, her song made uncertain by surprise.
The white dragon’s muzzle twisted upwards. We argued about it for many nights. Rua is still not convinced, but I have seen the truth. You carry him on your back without shame. Only valtas can turn what is humiliating into something proud. It makes us all into joyful fools.
“Valtas?” That was the only thing the dragon had spoken that didn’t weave itself into a word Kael knew.
How far does the land go? Kyleigh said, pointedly ignoring his question.
To the next horizon — days and days of flight. There was a time when we filled it to its edges, when not a breadth of land went unclaimed. But, wisps of flame curled out from her nostrils as she sighed, now our Motherlands are empty.
Her bright yellow eyes slid from Kael’s face over his shoulder, to where they sharpened upon something in the distance. When he turned, all he could see was the great mountain in the center of the island — a silent, purplish shadow crowned by thin white clouds. Its sides had been worn smooth by the icy gusts. But there was one place where the rock seemed broken.
A cave, one no taller than a man’s height, leered at him from between the crags. There was a darkness behind it that tugged upon his heart and iced his skin. Were the mountain to split open down its middle, he wouldn’t be surprised if a thousand wraiths came pouring from its top.
He was almost certain that something glowered at him from just within the cave’s leering mouth.
When he finally tore his eyes from the mountain, he saw that His-Rua watched him. The gusts off her wings blew his curls back in absent beats. The black slits in the center of her eyes narrowed. They swept across his face from side to side — twin blades leveled at his flesh.
Just when Kael’s skin began to crawl, she looked away.
Come … Rua is waiting.
She whirled from her path and plunged towards the earth below. Kael left his stomach behind as Kyleigh followed.
He was more than a bit relieved to have the great mountain behind him. For a moment, he’d been afraid that was where they were going. But His-Rua didn’t lead them too close. In fact, she seemed to give it a wide berth.
The white dragon flew purposefully north, and it wasn’t long before he saw where they were headed.
A range of mountains burst from the land in front of them. Its sides were jagged, but its tops were flat and even — like a set of teeth stacked one behind the other, climbing until they scraped the under-edges of the sky.
The mountains’ flesh reminded him of the Red Spine: a hundred crimson shades swirled across it in a pattern of lines, each bleeding into the next. They cast shadows across the flats, cut boldly down the curves. Kael’s hands itched as his eyes traced the patterns’ march across the mountains. But that wasn’t the most interesting thing about them.
Holes peppered the mountains’ sides. They were perfectly carved: arches that spanned beneath the flat tops and formed something that looked like a web of bridges. Some of the arches were so thin at their crests that he thought even the slightest weight might snap them at the middle.
And yet, many sported pairs of full-grown dragons.
Kael saw the glittering purple dragon first. He was perched near the mountain’s middle, his slender body curled about that of a much larger white dragon. Her horned head rested atop her foreclaws, while his lay across her back.
Corcra, and His-Corcra, His-Rua sang, gazing down at them. They have come to see you for themselves … and Rua has allowed it.
The purple dragon and his mate never blinked. Both sets of yellow eyes rolled to follow Kyleigh as she passed, but neither head lifted.
Other pairs dotted the mountains. There was a pale orange dragon and one the color of moss — both tangled around the stark white bodies of their mates.
“Are all female dragons white?” Kael asked.
To all but their bonds, His-Rua sang in reply.
They passed a green dragon, a silver dragon, and one with scales like the sea before a storm. They watched calmly as His-Rua sang each of their names and told of how far they’d come. Kael was still trying to grasp it all. He’d had no idea that there were dragons living so close to the Kingdom, or that they came in such an astonishing number of colors.
No two are the same, the white dragon said when Kyleigh relayed his thoughts. Once, there were as many colors as there were wonders in the land …
Her words trailed into another fiery sigh, and she turned her wings upwards.
The sun had fallen so that it was almost even with the mountains’ top: a stretch of flat rock that climbed into a jagged hill large enough to hold a village. A cluster of white dragons were gathered at its far edge. At least one of them was tall and sturdy, while another was quite small. It was difficult to count them when they were tangled all together. But as His-Rua approached, she sang:
Daughters!
And three horned heads popped up to greet her.
Mother!
Mother, you’ve returned!
Is that him, Mother? Have you brought the magic one?
Kael recognized the noise of their voices even before Rua’s crackling grunt boomed them into silence: these were the dragons that’d swarmed over them in the northern seas.
He watched in disbelief as the mountain’s jagged crest shifted. An enormous horned head peeled back from where it’d been tucked and Rua’s familiar gaze swept over him. For a moment, the darkness and the fury seemed gone from his stare.
Then a shadow crossed his face.
Another dragon circled the sky above Rua’s head. His thick body was covered in blue-black scales, and the under edges of his wings turned almost purple as he crossed over the sun. The horns that curved behind his ears seemed a bit too large for his head: his long neck had to snap in a whip’s motion just to lift them.
Gorm, one of the unmated, His-Rua said as she cut sharply aside. Follow me, halved one. We must give Rua his space.
Though she spoke calmly, the other dragons moved as if they’d been jolted by a shock: they clambered under arches and hid in the depths of caves. The three daughters crammed themselves behind a boulder, all of their eyes fixed warily upon Rua.
The scales across his muzzle began to glow as he watched Gorm circle. He roared in warning, snapped open his monstrous wings. But the blue-black dragon did
n’t flinch. In fact, he tucked his wings and fell into a dive.
Gorm dropped like an arrow’s bolt. Flames spewed out the sides of his mouth in wet tendrils as he fell; the weight of his horns dragged his great body to a perilous speed. In the half-blink before he reached Rua, he swung his claws out before him. Each of their dagger points was aimed for Rua’s eyes. He bellowed as if he meant to gouge them out, meant to snap his neck.
Rua still hadn’t budged. For a moment, Kael thought he might be crushed. He gripped Kyleigh’s spines and braced himself for the moment when the dragons’ bodies would collide.
At the last second, Rua swung his head forward. It fell like a hammer on the back of Gorm’s neck, rent the air with a crash so loud and sharp that it stung Kael’s ears. And he won the battle with a single blow.
Gorm slammed into the cliffs beneath him, launched by Rua’s head and dragged down by the weight of his horns. Chunks of stone spewed up behind him as he tumbled from one arch the next. His claws scrabbled madly as he tried to regain his footing. In the end, he didn’t stop until he reached the mountains’ bottom — a tangle of wings and limbs buried beneath a pile of rocks.
Rua glared as Gorm dug his way free, scales burning across his face. The blue-black dragon grumbled back, but seemed to think better of going after him a second time. Rua scowled until Gorm slunk beneath one of the arches. Then he looked away.
Kael clenched Kyleigh’s spines tightly. Scales popped up across his skin and his warrior half sharpened, ready for trouble. But the red dragon’s gaze hardly touched him before they drifted to follow His-Rua.
My-Rua, he boomed.
One of his great wings unfurled, revealing a gap of rock by his side. The white dragon slipped into it gracefully. He bent to press his muzzle against her scaly cheek. His great head dwarfed hers easily.
Kael was so busy watching them that he didn’t realize Kyleigh was about to stop. She landed hard on the small peak beneath Rua, and the jolt sent Kael rolling across her shoulder. His legs broke into a stumbling run the moment his feet touched the ground — the only thing that saved him from scraping his chin.
