Dragon Tide Omnibus 1

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  “There are portals over the ocean. They’re a secret, but because Vyvera works for some sort of special dragon elders, they told her where they were. It only took a day to fly over the entire ocean! Can you believe that? She said her dragon staff could tell that you’d used some sort of underwater portals. But the air portals don’t come out in the same places, so it took us a while to find you.”

  “And what are you doing here?” I bit my lip. We’d disagreed the last time I saw him.

  He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture felt oddly protective.

  “Are you kidding me? I didn’t trust you to go running off to another country on your own. You’d probably do something crazy and get caught for it in the first hour. I didn’t want a bunch of strangers to punish you for all the risks you take – that’s my job.”

  He winked.

  Why did my cheeks feel so hot? He was just being a good friend. There was no reason to be embarrassed about that. But I still was. It only made it worse that he was right. I had ended up in trouble almost as soon as I had arrived in this place.

  We collected the dishes, cleaning them in the pool of water, and doused the fire. I coaxed Nasataa back into the bag on my back while Heron packed the wooden dishes and the kettle into a leather bag.

  “You could have stayed home where it was safe,” I said nervously as I settled Nasataa and helped him get comfortable.

  “Sure,” Heron agreed. “So, could you.”

  “But Nasataa is my responsibility. I couldn’t just let him go on his own. He might get hurt and have no one to help him.”

  “Maybe you’re my responsibility. What happens if you get hurt and have no one to help you?” His smile was almost tender.

  “What about your apprenticeship?” I asked. I felt awkward at how sweet he was being.

  “By the time the Elders sort out what to do about the captives, the sunken ship, the return of the Blue Dragons, and the shock of seeing Damokas fly into their village, you and I will be back again.”

  He laughed as if he’d made a joke, but I had a bad feeling that things wouldn’t resolve themselves so quickly.

  “Well,” I said, leading the way out of the cave, “I’m glad you came with Vyvera. It’s nice to have a friend a –”

  My words cut off at the sight of Vyvera sitting atop a huge Black dragon. He was like the Blue Dragons, but different. Smaller, though still huge. His scales gleamed like theirs, but his shape was more adapted for land than sea, his legs longer, his tail shorter and he had no fins at all. He reminded me painfully of Ramariri and if he had been Gold, I would have melted. Instead, I simply gaped at him, awed by his beauty and frightened by the raw power behind it.

  “He’s a Black dragon,” I said with a gasp.

  “They usually like to stay in one place. They’re guardians and defenders,” Vyvera said from his back as Heron handed her the leather sack of dishes to add to the baggage strapped behind his saddles. “Usually, they defend cities – both human and dragon. But Damokas and I are here to defend something more important than a city.”

  Nasataa pushed his little head out of my bag and squeaked, sending a tiny ball of fire flying out over our heads. The Black dragon seemed to grin before he flared his own flame over the sea.

  Vyvera rolled her eyes.

  “And now that our enemies are sure to know exactly where we are, would you two please mount up?”

  Heron helped me scramble up into the saddle behind Vyvera, and he took the third seat behind me.

  “Do all saddles for dragons have three seats?” I asked. My memory of Ramariri’s saddle was very faint.

  “No. I guess I should have known that if I bought one with three spots, I’d end up filling them all. That’s usually how these things work, but I didn’t want to try riding with two people on a one person saddle and the unexpected always does seem to crop up,” Vyvera said with a laugh. “Let’s go, kids. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

  She took my staff back, tucking it into a slot in the saddle where her own staff rested as soon as Heron and I were strapped into our saddles, Damokas kicked off into the air.

  The feeling of flying was pure bliss. I’d missed it. It brought back bittersweet memories that were so powerful, I couldn’t help but cry tears of grateful delight. We were in the air, flying fast down the coast heading south. It was nowhere near anything familiar to me, nowhere near my home or family.

  And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.

  Chapter Eleven

  We flew down the rocky coast, avoiding any sign of people or cities. It was difficult to do. The Rock Eaters were far more populous than I could have dreamed of and their cities sprung up all along the coast, with small villages and large fishing installations in between the cities.

  “Shouldn’t we fly out to sea away from them all?” I asked when we skirted the first town, flying low through the trees in a nearby forest to avoid notice.

  “The Troglodytes have arranged a meeting with you south of here. This is the fastest route to get there,” Vyvera said. “And despite the danger, the meeting is too important to risk missing. We have to get you and Nasataa there as quickly as possible.”

  Despite the need to avoid towns, Vyvera talked often when we were in safer locations.

  “Baby dragons grow quickly,” she said about an hour after we took off from the cave. “He’ll double in size every week for the first few months and he’ll sleep most of the day.”

  Nasataa was sleeping in the pack on my back, completely unimpressed or unafraid by our flight through the air.

  “He’ll eat almost anything he can, so make sure you keep him fed or he’ll eat that bag he’s in,” Vyvera warned. “He doesn’t need a lot, just constant care and love. He’ll get into trouble if you aren’t watching carefully, and dragons need a close bond with the ones who raise them – in this case, you – in order to grow to healthy adult dragons.”

  It was a big responsibility, but of course I was willing to do all of that for Nasataa. He deserved a protector who was willing to care for him the way he deserved.

  “He’ll start talking soon. Dragons learn that quickly. So, be ready. It can be a shock when they speak into your mind.”

  She paused as we all went silent, avoiding a large, sprawling farm.

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked her when we’d passed the farm. “Do they teach this somewhere?”

  Vyvera laughed. “There are training schools for dragon riders, like Dragon School in the Dominion. And there are other lands where dragons are ridden – a different type of dragon than the dragons descended from Haz’Drazen. I was trained in Dragon School, but I didn’t stay there. I was visiting Haz’drazen’s lands on a request from the Dominar when the Truth Wars started. I would have wanted to return home to help defend my city, but Damokas was wounded and we had to stay while he healed. I was found by the Troglodytes while I waited there and they set me on a different course.”

  “What course?” I asked.

  She laughed. “Finding Nasataa. His birth was prophesied and so was yours. I only had to find you in time.”

  “I guess I’m lucky that you found me now,” I said.

  “I was almost too late. The staff can help guide me, but it is not very clear sometimes. I’ve been looking for months. If you hadn’t used those portals, I might not have found you at all. But their use was easily detected – and they have not been used for quite some time.”

  Good thing that I’d used those portals! If I hadn’t, I’d be lost here in the land of the Rock Eaters without any guidance at all.

  “Why are these people called Rock Eaters?” I asked.

  “They eat rocks.”

  I should have guessed that.

  “Seems like a poor diet,” Heron offered from behind us.

  “Small ones. They swallow them whole. They think that some rocks have magical properties that can be passed to the person who eats them,” Vyvera said.

  “And c
an they?” I asked.

  “I have not witnessed it,” Vyvera replied. “I have never spent any time in this land. Foreigners are not welcome.”

  “Then don’t you think we should be leaving?” Heron asked.

  We were ducked low between the hilltops, passing a tall tower on the edge of the ocean. A bright light shone from it, like the sun reflecting off a polished metal sheet. What were those for?

  “The Troglodytes are – ancient. And with magic seeping from the world, they are dying. We need to speak to one of them, but he is close to the surface of these lands, and he will not live to travel anywhere else – he is near death. Travel will kill him. We must go to him – no matter the risk.”

  I felt a little nervous at the word ‘risk’ especially with a baby dragon dependant on me. But I needed to be brave for him and keep him safe.

  “The bond between a guardian and her dragon is a sacred one,” Vyvera said as if she could tell what I’d been thinking. “You must be willing to be fully responsible for the safety and care of your little dragon.”

  “Of course,” I said. And I meant it. So far, I’d been willing to do whatever it took to keep him safe.

  “No sacrifice can be too great.”

  I’d been willing to leave my home and my family to keep him safe. That had to count for something, right?

  She was still talking, “It will be your job to raise him up to be the hero he needs to be, to comfort him, guide him, protect him, and to rescue him from danger. You can’t possibly be ready for that task, but I will try to help you find your way.”

  “I understand,” I said, and I thought that maybe I did understand, because hadn’t I seen my parents do those things for me? And hadn’t Ramariri done them for me? It was my turn to be responsible for someone else. My turn to sacrifice for someone else.

  “And I think the first sacrifice you will need to make,” Vyvera said, “is to get rid of those ridiculous boots.”

  “What?”

  Was that Heron laughing? I shot him a baleful glare, but it only made him laugh more.

  “We’ll see what we can find at the next stop, but we can’t have you tripping all over the place while you’re guarding our Chosen One, can we?”

  I was willing to give up my home and even my life for this little dragon. So why did the idea of giving up my boots sting so much?

  Chapter Twelve

  We flew for hours and it was well into the afternoon before we made our first stop. Vyvera set us down in a small valley between two huge hills. There were little farms and hamlets all around, making this a difficult place to find anywhere to hide so large a dragon. He’d been flying with his feet almost brushing the ground for hours. His gnarled face looked irritated when we finally landed and he immediately flamed, setting two bushes on fire before Vyvera patted his shoulder and calmed him down.

  “There’s a creek. Go vent your frustrations there,” she offered him, and he slunk toward it, head low until he could plunge his entire head under the water and flame. Steam and bubbles rolled off the surface, flashing up into the air and my eyes went wide.

  Would Nasataa be so large someday? Would he be larger? I really had no idea what I was getting into with him, did I? But I bet Ramariri didn’t know what it would cost him to take me on as a charge. So, I couldn’t let my worries about his eventual size stop me.

  I dismounted carefully, opening the bag to let Nasataa out to run around and trying to juggle the staff I’d been given as I freed it from the saddle. He scampered out of the bag immediately, chasing after a butterfly. Fortunately, the butterfly was flying circles around the little valley, so I didn’t have to chase after him as he bobbed up and down through the long grass.

  I joined Heron at the edge of the creek to refill our canteens and waterskins.

  “Fill these, too,” Vyvera said, handing me two more skins as she strode off into the trees.

  “Are you adjusting to all of this?” Heron asked me gently.

  “Sure,” I said, fiddling with the long staff. It was awkward to haul that thing around with me. Too bad it wasn’t a sword. Then it would have a scabbard. “I mean, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Nasataa.”

  “But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find out that your job is to raise him and protect him. That’s a big commitment,” he said. “Nasataa will probably outlive you by centuries.”

  I hadn’t even thought of that. Watching him leap through the grass after a frog – the butterfly had fled to the trees – his little snout flaming from time to time, was adorable. He was a sweet little dragon full of joy and excitement. He drank from the creek and then leapt toward me to snuggle against me, his eyes closed in satisfaction. How could I say no to that?

  I couldn’t.

  “How did you know you wanted to be a blacksmith?” I asked.

  Heron shrugged. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at. It wasn’t hard to commit.”

  “I guess some things are worth committing to,” I said with a wry smile. “And if I said no, I’d regret it all my life.”

  Heron was nodding with a knowing smile on his face as Nasataa leapt from my arms again, snarling suddenly and flaming wildly.

  Vyvera strode from the trees with another person at her side. A person wearing crimson flowing clothing tied at ankles and wrists, a pair of goggles and a face mask.

  My heart started racing before I had time to think. We were under attack! Vyvera had betrayed us!

  I brandished my dragon staff in front of me, darting forward to where Nasataa crouched. I stood over him as he flamed at the stranger, my staff ready to defend us both.

  “Good instincts, but not much skill. We’ll need to work on that,” Vyvera said with a smile.

  What was she talking about?

  Beside her, the Bubbler lowered his mask and pulled the goggles back to rest on the top of his head.

  “A stranger group of people I have never seen before, but you have given the sign and sung the song, so I am at your disposal.”

  “Thank you,” Vyvera said sincerely.

  “The Lightbringers stand to serve, to bring light to the nations and foster the hope of the peoples,” our visitor said formally.

  “You can stop looking like you’re about to fight for your life, Seleska,” Vyvera said to me. “This is Octon – a Lightbringer – part of a secret society that spans this globe working to bring light to dark places. He will not harm us.”

  “What help do you require?” Octon asked.

  “Local clothing for the three of us and food. I can pay in gold.”

  Octon shook his head. “I will not take your payment. No, I am not being generous. I cannot afford to take it. If I were to spend a foreign coin here, they would kill both me and my friends. Keep your gold coins.”

  I watched him curiously. He spoke our language but with an accent slow and smooth like butter. It fascinated me. So did his looks – different from Vyvera’s leathered look, or Heron’s dark island look, or even my pale look. Octon’s hair where it peeked from his hood was bright red and his skin was bronze. I wondered if that was common here. It was impossible to tell when they all covered up so much.

  “We must hurry,” Octon said. “A Saaasallla Patrol is in the nearby village. They will eradicate any foreigners on sight. And they will certainly slay this creature with you.”

  He pointed at Damokas and I felt a stab of icy fear shoot through me. That meant they would also kill Nasataa and none of this was his fault. He was just a baby who I had brought to this strange and severe land. It seemed strange that Octon wasn’t pointing him out, too.

  I looked around for the little fellow. Where had he gotten to?

  “How long will it take you to bring them here?” Vyvera asked. “And can I pay you some other way?”

  Octon was replying, but I wasn’t listening. I was looking for Nasataa.

  He wasn’t near Damokas. He wasn’t along the creek. My eyes swept along the grass and flowers of the valley, following any flicke
r of movement from a fly or butterfly. Where was he?

  “I’ve lost Nasataa,” I said after a moment. My head felt light and my heart began to beat so quickly that I could hardly hear Heron asking me if I was sure.

  My little dragon! I’d lost him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Nasataa!” I called. “Nasataa!”

  I reached out with my mind, desperately trying to find any trace of him, begging him with pictures to return to me, but I felt nothing in return. He was out there somewhere, and he couldn’t have gone far. But which direction would he have headed?

  I ran toward the nearest hill, the staff in my hand catching on the grass around me. I could hear snarls and people calling to me while trying to keep their voices low, but I didn’t have time to stop and listen to them. I needed to find my little dragon before something happened to him. I could imagine him out here, cold and alone, afraid and starving without a friend in the world and surrounded by enemies who would kill him on sight. It would all be my fault because I wasn’t watching him carefully enough. He’d die out there thinking he was unloved – maybe even calling for me – and never getting a reply.

  I was already crying in fear as I climbed the hill, my heart pounding so hard that I couldn’t hear anything else. I spun every few seconds, scanning the terrain around me, my gaze flicking over trees and grass and rocks, searching for that little fellow.

  He had to be here somewhere. If I could just find him.

  My head whipped back and forth as I searched. I could see the whole valley from here. I could see Heron running through the deep grass toward me. I could see Damokas rearing up and Vyvera rushing toward him. I could see Octon frozen in a crouch, watching me. But there was no sign of my little friend. He was not in the valley.

  I spun back to where the trees thinned a little ahead. Maybe if I got higher, I could see past the valley and catch a glimpse of where he’d gone.

  “Nasataa!” I called, “Nasataa!”

  I reached the top of the hill and I could see over the hill to the road beyond and the rolling farmlands. Where was he?