“By wagon?” I asked aloud as Lessie snarled. “Why? One of you could easily tie me to your saddles.”
The rider gave me a grim smile. “Colonel Roche isn’t going to allow you any privileges, and that includes the privilege of flying, even if it is on another dragon’s back. You’ll just have to slum it on the ground with the other soldiers until you make it to the new base.”
Some of the other soldiers nearby shot the rider dirty looks, but he didn’t even spare them a glance as he mounted. “Go with him,” I said to Lessie, knowing that she was preparing to dig her heels in.
She gave me an incredulous look. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You’re not. We’re going in the same direction. You’re just going to be a little…ahead of me.” I gave her a lopsided smile, trying to alleviate the tension. But Lessie wasn’t in the mood—she snarled at the other three dragons as they herded her back into the field, preparing to take flight.
“GO,” I said, infusing the word with a command. Lessie couldn’t disobey a direct order, so she took flight, screeching her protests even as she flapped her wings. Tears burned in my throat as I watched her soar through the sky with the other dragons. I wished so badly to be up there with her, but I reminded myself that we weren’t being separated. I’d see her in a few days.
At least you won’t have to worry about Salcombe finding you, I thought sourly, but that was of little comfort. In fact, I almost wished the bastard had one of my hairs, so I could take the piece of heart back from him when he came to find me again. The fact that the war had started would only work in Salcombe’s favor—while Elantia and its neighbors were distracted, he would slip between the borders and finish the dragon god’s work. And once he did, the war between Elantia and Zallabar would look like child’s play.
12
As promised, my cage was loaded up onto the back of a wagon, packed in with heavy bags of grain so it would not slide around. Even so, the journey was extremely uncomfortable—the wagon, one in a long line of similar conveyances making up the caravan, moved incredibly slow, even by human standards, and the road was harsh and full of potholes. Each jostle had some part of my body banging against the unforgiving metal bars. Even curling up into the fetal position didn’t help. The only good thing about this situation was that the soldiers had given me a military uniform to change back into, but that did nothing to cushion me from the cage. My back would be one giant mess of bruises by the time we arrived at the border.
I wonder if I’ll get to see Rhia, I thought morosely as I stared up at the twinkling stars that were the only bright spot of this miserable night. I wasn’t certain how I felt about the idea. On the one hand, I desperately needed a friend, but on the other hand, Rhia wouldn’t be able to do anything to help me. She wasn’t as rigid in her loyalty to the military as Jallis, but as a low-ranking rider, she had no power. I wasn’t about to ask her to break any of the rules—unlike Jallis, she was from a minor house, and wouldn’t be offered the same level of leniency.
If only I could get to my lockpicks, I could be free of this place already, I grumbled to myself, glancing to the driver. My belongings were in a pack that sat on the driver’s bench, bouncing with every pothole we hit. I was terrified that it would bounce straight out of the wagon and onto the road where the endless parade of wheels would crush it. Almost everything within was a priceless, one-of-a-kind item, and the dragon blade was the only link to my parentage. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing any of it.
I was just starting to drift off when emotions from Lessie surged inside me. “Get ready, Zara!”
I bolted upright, startled by the urgency in her voice. “What are you doing?” I asked.
A few minutes later, I got my answer as Lessie dove through a thick layer of clouds, barreling straight toward the wagon. Several of the horses, including the ones pulling my wagon, immediately spooked, breaking away from the caravan and running onto the fields. Angry shouts and fearful screams filled the quiet night, but Lessie ignored the other wagons and headed straight for me. Sensing her intent, I gripped the bars as tight as I could as she swooped low, catching my cage in her talons and carrying it away from the wagon.
“Oi!” my driver shouted, his voice a mix of panic and anger. “Bring that back, you!”
Lessie deposited me a few feet away, then turned back to the cart. The driver’s face went white with fear, and he snapped his reins, trying to outrun Lessie. But Lessie was far too fast, and with a swipe of her claws, she separated the horses from the wagon, bringing it to a halt.
“I think she wants you to free me,” I drawled as Lessie snatched up the terrified soldier in her claws.
“All right!” he tried to shout, but it came out more like a squeal. Lessie put him down in front of my cage, and he immediately dug out the key from his pocket. “You crazy bitch,” he said as he unlocked the cage, voice and hands shaking. The older soldiers maintained a healthy distance, unwilling to face Lessie’s wrath. They knew she could torch them all in an instant if she wanted.
The gate swung open, but I didn’t move. “Back up,” I ordered, eyeing his weapons. The last thing I needed was to walk out only for him to run me through with his sword.
The man hesitated, but Lessie made the choice for him, putting her big body between us as she nudged him away. She’d gone back to the wagon to get my belongings, and I nearly cried in relief as she handed over the pack. Quickly, I unwrapped it and strapped my gear on. The feel of my weapons strapped onto my body without the trappings of a dress felt amazing, and for the first time, I could actually taste the beginnings of freedom.
“Get on!”
“Private!” the sergeant in charge of the caravan shouted as I leapt onto Lessie’s back. His eyes glittered with fury as he trotted toward us on a horse, and his sword was drawn even though he had to know it was useless in the face of Lessie’s armor. “Control your dragon at once and return to your cage!”
I laughed. “Do you really think I’m going to listen to you after the treatment I’ve suffered?”
“You’re a prisoner,” he snapped, “but you haven’t yet been convicted, and there’s a chance you could be cleared. If you leave now there is no going back, Private. You will be guilty of mutiny, and your bloody dragon rider privileges won’t be able to save you,” he added with a sneer.
I gritted my teeth, reminded that Colonel Roche wasn’t the only one who was prejudiced against dragon riders. There was a very good chance that my hearing would be presided over by similarly prejudiced officers, and if Tavarian didn’t make it back, I could very well be sentenced to death.
“Maybe I am a mutineer,” I said to the soldier, aware that I was about to burn all my bridges with the military, “but I’ve done everything I could to serve and protect this country, and in return I’ve gotten nothing but hate. Tell Colonel Roche whatever you want about me. I have no faith in Elantian military justice, and I’m not going to let you punish me for doing what’s right.”
“Fly,” I said to Lessie, squeezing her sides with my legs. I gripped the large spike near the base of her neck as she launched us into the air with a powerful beat of her wings. The soldier shouted something, but we ignored him, and my worries fell away as we shot into the sky, left on the ground along with my captors. Grinning, I tilted my head back and allowed the wind to whip my hair off my shoulders. We did it! We might be fugitives now, doomed to live as outlaws for the rest of our lives, but at least we were finally free.
“You managed to slip your escort again?” I asked Lessie, leaning into her hide so I could soak in her warmth. Without proper riding gear, the icy air would chill me to the bone if I didn’t stick close to her skin.
“Yes,” she said, sounding quite smug about it. “All of this night flying we’ve been doing has really come in handy, and unlike the other dragons, I wasn’t carrying a load. Between their cargo and their riders, they were slowed considerably.”
“They’ll still be chasing us, though,” I said, my e
lation wearing off as worries settled on my shoulders once more. “We need to find somewhere to lie low for a bit.”
“Agreed,” Lessie said, though she sounded mournful about it.
We flew on for another twenty minutes or so, putting considerable distance between us and the caravan while we searched for a good place. Finally, we found a secluded valley populated by tall trees with thick foliage. Lessie managed to find a space large enough for us to land but still shaded enough that we would be difficult to spot from the sky.
The moment she touched the ground, I leaped off her back, my weapon drawn. Using our combined senses, we checked for any signs of human or dragon life in the area and found none. My treasure sense picked up a few valuables buried in the ground, but nothing that spoke of living humans nearby, and Lessie didn’t scent anything other than wildlife.
Satisfied, I secured my blade, then threw my arms around Lessie’s neck for a long, hard hug.
“Thank you for coming back for me,” I said fervently. Lessie wrapped one of her arms around me, squeezing me tightly against her as she rumbled a purr. Perhaps her grip was a bit too hard, but in this moment, I didn’t care. She could squeeze me like this for the rest of my life as long as it meant we wouldn’t be separated. “I wish there had been another way, though. I hate that you keep putting yourself at risk like this. If it were just me defying them it would be one thing, but the military isn’t going to tolerate an unruly dragon. They may execute both of us if we’re recaptured.”
“Then we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Lessie said stubbornly. “I don’t regret breaking you out, Zara, not one bit. The other dragons told me that if you were convicted, you would be sent to a prison that’s very far away for several decades. I am not going to live like that, especially when we haven’t done anything wrong.”
The thought of being locked away for the rest of my life, without being allowed to see or even communicate with my dragon, made my chest ache, and I hugged Lessie even harder. “You’re right,” I said fiercely. Better to live free and happy for a short time than live a long but miserable life in a cage.
Lessie rumbled in agreement. “Promise me that you won’t leave me again,” she said. “No matter what happens, we won’t be separated.”
“I promise,” I said without reservation.
Lessie and I would have happily snuggled for a while longer, but hunger got the best of us—I hadn’t eaten for at least a day, and the small meal Lessie had been fed when she’d been brought back to the stables had long worn off. Lessie took flight while I kept watch at our little campsite, and she came back a little while later with a large buck. She set her catch down and tore off a leg for me, then tucked into the animal with relish while I prepared my portion to cook.
“So, what now?” Lessie asked as I finished wrapping the skinned leg in thick leaves so Lessie could cook it with her flame. We didn’t dare risk a proper fire—any dragons looking for us would be able to spot it from miles away—but we reasoned that a few minutes of Lessie’s flame was worth the risk.
“We need to go after Salcombe,” I said, stepping back so Lessie could take over. She opened her maw and shot a thin stream of fire over the dressed leg.meat. With any luck, the leaves would allow the flame to cook the meat through without actually catching fire. “We haven’t been gone very long, and Salcombe is on his own—I bet he’s still in Dardil.”
“Do you not think we should wait for Lord Tavarian to turn up?” Lessie asked. “Perhaps we can seek him out directly.”
“He said he would head straight to the camp when he was done in Traggar,” I reminded Lessie. “He hadn’t turned up by the time we left, so that means he’s likely still there, and we can’t fly over Traggar without risking war. We also can’t afford to go back to the camp and wait.” Two pairs of dragon riders had remained, along with a contingent of soldiers, on the off-chance that Traggar decided to attack us anyway.
“We could go to his island,” Lessie suggested.
“We’d have to find it first,” I pointed out. Tavarian’s floating island was in constant motion, and though I imagined he had a way of tracking it, I didn’t. I didn’t even know if it always followed the same trajectory—the only thing I knew was that the islands coasted on magnetic currents that pulled them through the air.
“It has to operate on some kind of orbit,” Lessie pointed out, “as well as the other floating islands, or they would inevitably end up crashing into each other.”
“Good point.” I briefly considered the idea—we could go to the floating island, or to the hidden valley, and try to get a message to Tavarian via his servants. But who knew how long we would end up waiting there? “We can’t afford to hang around,” I said. “The more time we waste looking for Tavarian, the more time Salcombe has to find the fourth piece.”
Lessie nodded. “It’s too late to hunt for him now,” she said, looking up at the night sky. “By the time we get to Dardil, dawn will have arrived. But we can lie low until nightfall and pursue him then. You should be able to locate him easily with your treasure sense.”
Decided, the two of us took to the skies again, somewhat rejuvenated by the brief rest and the food. It took us several hours, but we managed to make it past the Dardil border just as the first hints of twilight began to paint the sky. We landed in a thickly wooded forest. Lessie and I spent the rest of the day sleeping, each taking turns watching out for any intruders while we recovered our strength.
By the time dusk settled over the sky, we were both awake and anxious to get going.
“Let’s head east, toward the capital,” I said once we were in the sky again. We were near Lange when Salcombe had escaped with the heart, and I had a feeling he’d be headed toward Zallabar, where he could use those false citizenship papers of his to lie low. The Zallabarian border was only a few hours east of Lange, the low, flat land making for easy travel, and I wanted to catch him before he crossed into enemy territory.
We flew in companionable silence, staying above the clouds and out of sight. The cloud cover was thinner than usual, but I wasn’t worried about being spotted at night. I kept my treasure sense wide open as we traveled, tuned to high-value objects, and my instincts itched as we passed over several large collections of treasure that were likely either hoards or the contents of hidden temples yet to be discovered. A few of my treasure hunting acquaintances had been to Dardil on digs and uncovered some valuable pieces—at any other time, I would have been tempted to stop and see if I could pick up anything to take back to the Treasure Trove for Carina to sell.
The thought of my shop made my heart ache with homesickness. I hoped that Carina and the orphans were all right. Now that Zallabar had officially declared war, the city’s residents would be on alert, hoarding their supplies and spending less money than usual. Buying art and artifacts would take a back seat, even for the elite, which meant the shop would take a hit. Of course, we had plenty of money tucked away with all the good months we’d had, but that wouldn’t help the employees who relied on us for steady work. Hopefully, Carina could find other ways to keep them busy so they wouldn’t end up on the streets again.
“Zara.” Lessie’s urgent voice pierced my thoughts. “Down below.”
I leaned to the side to see that the clouds had parted, giving us an unobstructed view of the flatlands. At first, I wasn’t certain what I was seeing—the ground looked like a giant chessboard, full of dark and light fields…except that unlike a chessboard, the fields were moving. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized I was staring down at an army.
“Get closer,” I ordered, and Lessie put on a burst of speed. We remained above the cloud layer, and I fastened my goggles over my eyes, using the dials to zoom in. My blood iced over as I surveyed the army—there were roughly seventy units of eight hundred out there, marching in formation, all wearing Zallabarian uniforms. A quarter of them were cavalry, and in addition to the men, they had countless armored vehicles—the horseless kind, I realized wit
h horror, noting the clouds of steam puffing from the hoods. I’d seen prototypes of horseless carriages before, but I hadn’t realized that the military would be using them, or building them to such size. The carriages were hauling large wagons full of the new cannons, and a quick count told me they had upwards of a thousand weapons. Overall, there had to be at least fifty thousand soldiers out there.
All moving west, toward Lange and the Elantian border.
“Fuck,” I swore out loud. Those steam-driven vehicles headed straight for Lange, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Dardilian capital wasn’t the main target. The Zallabarians likely planned to roll straight through the capital, and with the might of all those men and cannons, the city would likely surrender without much of a fight. From there, the troops would strike through into the unprotected north of Elantia, from where our own soldiers and dragons had just been called away.
“The attack on the south,” Lessie said in a voice that was somewhere between awe and terror. “It must be a feint.”
“Damn right, it’s a feint,” I growled, ordering her to fly higher into the clouds, far out of the range of those deadly cannons. “That, or it’s a genuine attack with a second army, and they plan on taking the country in a pincer maneuver. Either way, we’ve only got a handful of troops left behind to defend the capital against these bastards.” Not that we would have been able to do very much anyway—we’d had half that number stationed at the channel, and those cannons would have decimated us.
“What do we do?” Lessie asked. “Should we keep looking for Salcombe?”
I swore viciously. Once again, this stupid war was interfering with my real objective. But could I afford to turn away?? By tomorrow, Lange would be firmly under Zallabarian control, and under his guise as a Warosian businessman, Salcombe would likely be able to grease the right palms and slip away. In the meantime, Lessie and I were in greater danger than ever. We couldn’t keep striking west toward Zallabar, not when this army was out in full force. For all I knew this was only the first wave, and Zallabar was sending even more troops.
Might of the Dragon Page 12
