by Mark Robson
From her knapsack, she took a small cooking pan and several strips of venison wrapped in leaf bundles. From the strip of fat she had saved from the carcass of the deer, she cut a small piece and wiped it around the pan to grease the surface. The remainder she left in the pan to add flavour.
Digging deeper into her pack, she found her wraps of herbs, from which she carefully chose a couple of sprigs and proceeded to strip them with her fingers, dropping the leaves into the greasy pan. When she was satisfied that she had enough, she placed the remainder to one side, added strips of meat to the pan and then held it over the flames. Within a few heartbeats, the contents began to sizzle gently. A wonderful aroma began to exude from the pan and Elian’s stomach began to rumble. Although it looked to be nearly midday here they had not yet eaten, and the smell of frying meat set his mouth watering.
‘That smells fantastic!’ he said, taking care to keep the fire between them.
‘That’s the general idea. We’ll probably have to eat some to draw Nolita out. I’m guessing you won’t object to that part of the plan.’ She grinned across the fire at him.
‘I think I’ll live with it,’ he responded.
‘Right, why don’t you go and collect a few nuts from the edge of the woods? They’ll go well with the meat. Our friend will come into the open soon enough.’
Elian wanted to retort that as Kira was the trained hunter, it should be her job to risk meeting the pointed end of Nolita’s knife. It also occurred to him that it was probably too early in the season to find nuts, but he did not want to blurt out his suspicion in case it highlighted his ignorance of seasonal differences between Racafi and Cemaria. Rather than look cowardly, or a fool, he held his tongue.
He walked across to the edge of the forest and began searching the fringe for nuts. He foraged for a while, but the only pine nuts he found were not yet ripe enough to eat. It felt good to be right.
‘Stand still! Don’t move unless you want me to stab you.’ Nolita’s order came from directly behind him.
All good feelings vanished. The touch of Nolita’s knifepoint in the small of his back sent chills running up and down his body.
Damn! he thought. How is it that everyone can move silently through woodland except me? He raised his hands slowly to show that he did not intend to put up a fight.
‘You don’t listen properly,’ Ra announced in his mind, her tone amused. ‘I heard her through your ears. Don’t worry. She doesn’t intend to hurt you.’
‘Turn around,’ Nolita ordered. ‘Come on! Don’t take all day about it. Keep your hands where I can see them. Now, we’re going to visit your friend out there by the water and you’re going to give me some of that food you’re cooking.’
‘There’s no need for threats, Nolita,’ he replied, keeping his voice calm and unthreatening. ‘We’re cooking plenty for you as well. All you had to do was ask.’
Nolita watched as Elian came closer, foraging through the brush and checking the branches of the pines. It was too early for pine nuts. Did the boy know nothing?
Silent as a fox, she slipped out from behind the large tree and crept up behind him. Determination welled inside her as she pressed the point of her knife gently against Elian’s back. He looked more irritated than afraid when she told him to turn round. He had not heard her coming. She would wager everything she owned on it. So why did he react with such nonchalance when she appeared behind him with a knife? It made little sense.
She had fought with her hunger for days as she had run from the beast. The beast’s voice in her head had made her wonder if she was insane. It had teased her with offers of food. It had feigned concern, but she had realised from the outset that this was a trick. Somehow the beast had insinuated its thoughts into her mind, but she had fought it at every turn. Now, her belly knotted and cramped at the prospect of a proper meal.
Elian was a rider. He had said so. But none of the beasts were in sight. This was a gamble. If Elian was seeking to trap her, then she would have to risk it.
Desperation warred with her fears. She could feel her strength failing. She had to eat soon, or the forest would likely claim her. ‘Better the forest than . . . she cut off the thought and concentrated on keeping her knife hand steady. No. This will work. The riders have food. I’ll take what I need and disappear back into the forest before the beast realises what’s happening.
‘Lead the way, Elian,’ she ordered. ‘Keep your hands where I can see them. Don’t try anything. I don’t want any trouble. I just want to eat.’
‘Fair enough, Nolita.’
His voice sounded calm. How could he stay so collected when he must be terrified inside? Her brother and sister were brave like Elian. A spark of envy flashed through her, but she snuffed it out in an instant. Her fear had kept her alive. She needed it. It made her strong in ways other people didn’t understand.
They moved swiftly out across the strand to where Kira was busy cooking. As they approached, Nolita gave a sudden gasp of shock.
‘What’s the matter, Nolita? Are you all right?’
Nolita did not answer. She was staring with rigid fascination at Kira’s face. Kira looked up from her cooking with a big, friendly smile.
‘Hello, Nolita. I’ve been expecting you. Sit down and have some food. It’s just about cooked.’
‘Your face! What happened to your face?’ Nolita asked, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at Kira with open horror.
‘My face? Oh, my tribal marks, you mean? They’re painted . . . no, that’s not it, is it? Do you mean the colour of my skin?’
‘The elders in my village tell tales of demons with black skin,’ Nolita admitted, as if not sure whether to be terrified, or embarrassed.
To Nolita’s astonishment, rather than take offence at her admission the dark girl laughed at her.
‘Well, there might be a few lads from my tribe who would describe me as a demon after I’d tossed them out of a wrestling circle.’ Kira chuckled. ‘But I can assure you they’d be exaggerating. The tribal people of Racafi outnumber the light-skins by around seven to one. Elian can tell you, if you don’t believe me. Come – sit. The meat is perfect. It would be a shame to let it go cold. Go ahead. Use your knife and take some.’
‘You – Elian. Eat some first,’ Nolita ordered, eyeing the food suspiciously.
One of Kira’s eyebrows rose sharply in an amused, quizzical fashion, but she said nothing. Elian was more than happy to oblige. He took a piece of meat from the pan and began eating it enthusiastically.
‘Swallow,’ Nolita ordered.
Elian did so and then took another bite from the meat in his hand. ‘Mmm! Very tasty, Kira!’ he mumbled through a large mouthful. ‘You should cook more often.’
Nolita waited a moment or two longer, watching Elian intently for any signs of immediate illness. He looked fine, so she nodded to Kira and speared a piece of meat with her knife. At the first bite, her eyes widened. Elian was right; the meat was succulent and bursting with rich flavour.
‘Take a seat. There’s no rush and we have plenty. I can always cook more if you like,’ Kira offered, indicating a flat rock on the other side of the fire. ‘We heard you were having problems with a dragon. Would you like to talk about it? We might be able to help.’
Nolita flinched at the word ‘dragon’. Her heart started beating faster and her eyes darted around nervously. There were no signs of the beast, but that did not stop her from double checking. It took a moment or two for the feelings to subside enough for her to talk.
‘No, I’d rather not, if you don’t mind,’ she replied. ‘The meat is very good. Thank you. It’s been a while since I ate good meat.’
‘It’s your choice, of course,’ Kira said casually, reaching into her pack.
Nolita raised her knife hand automatically as her suspicion flared, but when Kira drew out another large piece of meat it was hard for Nolita to hide her delight. She visibly relaxed. Kira had emptied the contents of the pan into a small bowl for her, a
nd it was disappearing fast. Seeing Kira preparing more set her stomach rumbling.
‘How long would you give her after we’re gone?’ Kira asked, speaking to Elian as if Nolita was not within a hundred leagues.
Elian looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘A week,’ he replied. ‘Maybe two now that you’ve fed her.’
‘We could help her,’ Kira observed. ‘It’s probably our duty to now that we’re dragonriders.’
Is this a trick, after all? Nolita wondered, turning her head to see how Elian would respond to the girl’s comment. Have I walked into a trap?
‘You’re probably right,’ Elian said.
The girl is running the show, Nolita concluded. Elian’s just following her lead.
A sudden whoosh of air brought Nolita to her feet. She spun, her knife at the ready. Panic ripped through her and her vision momentarily blurred as she fought back the instinct to faint. Two beasts, the blue coloured one that had been following her and another with scales of glowing gold, had approached silently over the treetops. Vast wings, fearsome horns and terrifying scaly bodies seemed to fill the sky. They were landing one to either side of the fire. Her only hope was the cover of the trees.
Without a second thought, she dropped the bowl of meat and set off at a sprint. It was not far to the trees. The beasts were still trying to land, their wings stirring the air into spinning vortices in their efforts to kill their forward momentum and settle on the narrow strand. She still had a chance. If she could reach the trees before they caught her, she might yet escape.
Keeping her eyes focused on the nearest entry point to the forest, she ran as she had never run before. For a moment it seemed as if she would make it, but in one terrifying blink of an eye everything changed. Impossibly, a third dragon materialised, as if the Creator had pointed a finger at the air in front of her and willed it to be. To her horror it was so close she could not stop and she ran into the beast’s side. The impact did not hurt, but the touch of the scales against her hands and the side of her face was too much. Revulsion swept through her and a wave of merciful darkness enveloped her as she fainted.
Elian was nearly as surprised as Nolita at the sudden arrival of Ra and Firestorm. He watched the terrified girl run like the wind across the strand only to find the door to her escape route cruelly slammed shut in her face. Fang’s appearance was a spectacular twist to Kira’s trap. To begin with Elian was too angry for words, but when he did finally speak to Kira, he did so with quiet venom in his voice.
‘I suppose you think that was clever!’ he hissed. ‘You do realise Nolita’s never going to trust us again. Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?’
Kira looked him calmly in the eye and continued to fry another piece of meat over the fire. ‘Do you want me to answer, or would you like to shout at me first? I normally find that if I get the anger out of my system, I listen better afterwards.’
Elian nearly choked. He wanted to rant and shout and stamp his feet, but he could see that Kira was ready to sit there and smile sweetly at him as he did it. He would look the fool. The desire to react was almost irresistible, but somehow he held his temper under control.
‘Calm down, Elian. Kira did it this way for a very good reason,’ Ra said, her tone very matter-of-fact.
‘You! You go behind my back and you tell me to calm down,’ he steamed, glad that he was able to do so silently. ‘Never mind Nolita not trusting us – how am I supposed to trust you? I thought we were a team. Why are you siding with Kira? Where’s your sense of loyalty?’
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, Elian,’ Ra responded, her voice calm and aloof, ‘but a good partnership involves playing to one another’s strengths. I knew from the moment Longfang relayed this plan to me that you wouldn’t like it.’
‘Damned right I don’t!’
‘You would have preferred to earn Nolita’s trust and then attempt to show her that we dragons are not the beasts she thinks us to be.’
‘And the problem with that is?’ he asked.
‘It wouldn’t have worked,’ Ra replied sadly. ‘Even if it had, it would have taken months, if not years, to achieve. We don’t have the luxury of that sort of timescale. We must get to the Oracle. There is no time to waste on niceties.’
‘So frightening the poor girl half to death is all right, then,’ Elian stormed, his words fired with all the force he could muster. ‘Sorry, but I don’t see what you’ve achieved.’
‘She is afraid because she’s not airborne yet,’ Ra said calmly.
‘What? You can’t be serious!’ Elian exclaimed, his mind racing. ‘She’d jump.’
‘Which is why she is going to fly with you on my back to begin with, and you are going to tie her to your saddle to make sure she doesn’t.’
Chapter Fourteen
The Fight
Tying Nolita onto Elian’s saddle was no easy task. The poor girl had spent a most uncomfortable night, much as Elian had in the dragonhunters’ camp. She came to as they were tying her up and struggled fiercely until Kira quieted her by threatening her with a knife. They did not make Nolita’s bonds quite as painfully tight as Elian’s had been, but they took every precaution to stop her escaping.
As soon as she realised what Elian and Kira intended to do, and despite having her hands tied behind her back, she fought like a wildcat – kicking, biting and spitting the entire time. It was only Ra’s intervention that made it possible to get her into the saddle. Twisting her head around on her long neck, Ra gave Nolita a close-up view of her impressive rows of teeth. Two heartbeats later she had passed out again.
‘Thanks, Ra,’ Elian grunted gratefully, heaving the girl’s limp body up and into position.
‘You’re going to have to hurry, Elian. We don’t have a lot of time until dawn. We only have a very narrow window of opportunity.’
‘I know, I know! Kira, give me a hand here, please? Ra’s chivvying me up, but I can’t do this on my own. Here – I’ll hold her and you tie her in position.’
Kira did the best she could. The result was not very elegant, but Elian doubted he could have done any better. Kira looked at her handiwork and shook her head.
‘You’re going to have trouble if she starts to panic,’ she said doubtfully. ‘Are you going to be all right with her like this?’
‘I don’t exactly have a lot of choice, do I? It’s almost dawn. Ra tells me there’s no time for my softly softly approach. We’ve got to go, so let’s get it over with.’
‘Good luck,’ she said simply.
Elian watched her as she made her way across to Fang and climbed up onto his back. Kira was still an enigma to him. Her parting words had sounded as genuine as any he had heard her say since they had met, but he still felt she had little regard for his opinion or his abilities. What would it take for him to gain her respect?
Nolita stirred in front of him. Elian put his arms around her and pulled her into a sitting position. Aurora’s leaping run forwards snapped Nolita awake in an instant. Her first reaction was to scream and struggle to break Elian’s hold.
‘Don’t be a fool!’ he yelled in her ear as Ra continued to accelerate. ‘If you fall, you’ll spend the flight dangling upside down. You’re tied on. I’m not. If I feel us slipping, I’m going to let you fall so I can hold on. Is that what you want?’
Nolita tensed in his arms. She stopped writhing, but continued to scream. Every fibre of her body felt taut to breaking point as they launched into the air. He did not have to hear the terror in her screams to feel her panic and fear. The emotions were projecting from her like an aura. He also felt the moment when Nolita first saw the gateway. He thought it impossible for her to stiffen any further, but she did. He could not see her face, but he could imagine her wide eyes at the sight of the swirling vortex hanging over the middle of the lake.
As they entered the vortex, the overload of emotion was too much for Nolita. She went limp again. This was just as well, as the twisting wrench of emergence was followed instantly by
a blast of the coldest air Elian had yet experienced. Nolita was not dressed for extreme cold. They would have to descend quickly, or she would die of exposure.
It was full daylight here.
‘Why have we emerged so high?’ Elian called aloud as he looked down in astonishment at the vast drop beneath them. The air felt thin and he could tell that his breathing rate had instinctively increased.
‘I don’t know,’ Ra replied. She sounded puzzled. ‘I followed my dragonsense. This is where it brought us. There must be a reason . . . wait a heartbeat – look out!’
‘What? Why?’
A sudden staccato stuttering noise was followed by the droning whine of one of the strange flying machines. It was not alone. Three more of the contraptions scattered around the dragons, manoeuvring hard to avoid a collision.
‘Ow!’ Ra exclaimed. ‘Whatever they’re spitting from those machines hurts a lot more than the muskets did. We had better get away from here fast. If one of those things hits you or the girls, it won’t be pleasant.’
Elian felt the stinging impacts through the link with Ra and winced. Ra did not appear to be hurt badly, but the sensation was uncomfortable. He craned his neck around to see where the hostile machines had gone.
‘Another one!’
Elian instinctively ducked as another machine roared past just above their heads, but there was no spitting of weapons this time – at least not in their direction. The newcomer seemed to be chasing the other machines. He’s either incredibly brave, or very stupid, Elian thought. He watched, fascinated, a strange sense of horror creeping over him as the late arrival ignored the four-to-one odds and began to spit fire and death at one of the other strange-looking contraptions.
