Flight

That one little thought brought the sadness and worry of leaving them and our parents behind. It hit me like a club. The euphoria of flying dissipated with the burden of worry and the desperate need to rescue not only them, but all the people Wyrden had enslaved there—Beeble and Titch’s fae dragon friends, the people in the mines, the young ones learning how to be dragon riders, and the dragons themselves. What are they doing? Are they alright? I even worried about my old team members, Nathan and Gerald. Has Wyrden blamed them for our escape?

My stomachs churned. And my skin, dry from days of dehydration in Wyrden’s dungeons, itched like a thousand ants.

Hold on, we can do this—One brick at a time, as Grandad used to say.

My brave companion, Beeble, chirruped on my shoulder, casting nervous glances behind us to Viento’s green dragon friend, Havili’s, thinning smokescreen. Havili puffed one last blast of green ammonia at the mass of shadowy dragons before sweeping to join us.

“What’s it looking like, Havili?” Viento asked.

“Along with the greens behind us, a thunder of dragons is flying upwind to circle around and cut us off. Without, er, riders, weighing them down, they’re catching up fast,” Havili growled.

“What’s our plan, Glaserys?” Viento asked the ice dragon. “Do you think we’ll make the Library of Alexandria?”

Glaserys growled. “I don’t think we’ll make it to Castle City, let alone the Library. Best chance for us all is if we ditch our passengers in the nearest forest.”

“Bu—” I stopped myself from complaining. Saving my family was important, but we couldn’t do that if we were dead.

“Sorry,” Viento said. “There’s no way we can take you all the way. They’d catch us.”

“Reckon the forest near Waystop will give them the best chance,” Havili shouted over the wind.

“If we drop the two-legs and stay low, hopefully Wyrden’s compelled dragons will chase us to Castle City without realising we’ve lost our passengers.”

“Thank you,” Stan said. “But, er, we have a problem.”

A phalanx of seven dragons zoomed in from the north. Four red dragons, two ice dragons, and a gold. They were moving fast, wings glinting in the rosy morning light. 

Glaserys, the ice dragon carrying Stan, sighed, releasing a huff of icy flakes. “Right, Viento, can you take the demon? It’s only a short way now and I’m no good in the forest, but I can play a mean defence.”

“You better ask the demon if he can climb down for a midair handover,” Viento replied. “That’s a dangerous manoeuvre.”

“I’ve got it,” Stan said.

My stomachs clenched as Stan clambered over Glaserys’ pale blue shoulder. Then, clutching tight to Glaserys’ scales, he inched down past the dragon’s ice-blue knee more tentatively than when he’d climbed onto Glacerys during our escape.

I willed him on handhold by handhold.

“Right,” Havili called as Stan hung onto Glaserys’ foot. “You ready?”

The tension was palpable. Nobody said anything. But there wasn’t much time, the closer Wyrden’s dragons got, the more danger we were all in.

“Yes,” Stan called at last.

Havili swooped under the ice dragon, and Stan jumped.

I held my breath, and for a heart-shattering second, Stan plummeted. He landed clumsily, scrabbling at Havili’s scaly green back as the dragon dropped several feet.

“Gosh, you’re heavy,” Havili muttered as Stan spread his arms wide and threw himself down across Havili’s back. “Are you safe?”

“Yes! Let’s go,” Stan said.

Relief washed through me.

Too soon. Wyrden’s red and blue dragons had left the slower gold one behind and were almost close enough to hit us with their ice and flame.

Viento and Havili picked up the pace, belting toward the forest so that within moments we were skimming over the top of the trees, sweeping past the branches at a ferocious rate, the leaves close enough to touch if I dared reach out my hand.

“Fair flying,” Glaserys called, wheeling to face the oncoming dragons and releasing an arc of ice-breath.  

Wyrden’s dragons slowed and re-organised. The four red dragons in the lead circled back to hide behind two fast-flying pale-blue dragons.

The manoeuvre had bought us a moment, nothing more, as the pale blue dragons flew through Glacerys’ ice blasts as if they were nothing but sunshine.

We had to hope that moment would be long enough, at the speed dragons fly I was a poor judge. And then I saw something truly magical through the leaves.

Ahead, a river wound through the forest to the sea.

I’d never seen the sea before. Even from this distance, it was beautiful. A cerulean blue with a speckling of frothy cream. I wanted to swim in those waters. Heck, I wanted to swim in any water. Flying is fun and all, but after a while it doesn’t beat a nice bath. There’s nothing as refreshing as soaking tired, dehydrated limbs in warm water.

“After we’ve dropped you off,” Viento said, “follow the river and you’ll find Waystop. We’ll keep on flying and try to make out that we’re taking you to Castle City.”

“Got it,” I said.

The green dragons flew lower, pushing down through the leafy canopy above an animal trail that meandered through the woods. The path grew narrower and narrower, forcing the dragons to slow as they dodged branches.

I followed Stan’s example and lay low on Viento’s back, clinging on for dear life while leaves and tree branches zipped past.

Above the leafy canopy, flashes of red and blue dragons flew far too close for comfort, forcing our green dragons to fly lower and lower until the leaves and branches were impossible to avoid altogether and a barrage of leaves and twigs belted me and caught in my hair.

I gritted my teeth and shielded my eyes. It was hard to believe the dragons above could still see us, but despite Glaserys’ icy attacks, they still appeared to be on our trail.

“Are you ready?” Viento asked.

Anything but, I thought as Havili and Viento dropped so low that their wings skimmed the ground and my leaden limbs balked at the idea of leaping to the forest floor rushing past.

“Three. Two,” Havili warned, my stomachs clenching tighter with every word. “Jump!”

Beeble fluttered up from my shoulder as I sucked up my courage, threw my club down and leapt.

Panicking, I tumbled to the mossy ground as the two dragons flapped away through the trees. Soon, the forest obscured them from view. I imagined them joining up again with Glaserys at the edge of the forest before flying toward the sea. After they’d risked so much to help Stan and me escape, I could only hope they’d be alright, but they were better off without us slowing them down.

“Are you okay?” Stan asked, scrambling over the uneven ground packed with shrubs and saplings to help me to my feet.

I nodded. It was so good breathing the fresh forest air. Sun dappled onto my back like a playful memory of youth and a promise of better days. Until now, I hadn’t even realised how much I’d missed the forest while I was in Dragon Castle.

We stood hand in hand while Beeble flitted here and there, dancing in the cornflowers nearby. It was a magical moment, Stan gazing deep into my eyes while I was lost, transfixed by the way the forest light was reflected in his pale blue-green orbs.

A voice piped up from behind me. “What in all the worlds are you doing? Your crashing around has broken my house.”

I stumbled back and brushed myself off. “I’m so sorry,” I said, finding Grandad’s club and tucking it into a loop at my waist.

“I was talking to that brute.” The little person, all of a thumb high, raised a tiny accusatory finger at Stan, before pointing to a tilted river stone resting on one of the larger saplings. It had been knocked sideways off the stone walls of a tiny cottage carved out of stone, revealing the furnishings inside. A table, a bed and several chairs stacked with bright cushions and throw rugs. One of the chairs and fallen, dumping several cushions onto the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Stan said. “Is there something I can do?”

“Yeah, you can go away. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“We’re sightseeing,” I extemporised. “The dragons said this is the most beautiful place in all the worlds.”

“Yeah?” The little person raised an eyebrow. “And that’s why they dropped you from a height.” He shook his head. “Foolish trusting dragons. I thought only humans and Drafers were that crazy.”

Stan looked at me.

I stared back at him. “Fine. We’re going to Waystop. I’ve got some, er, shopping to do.”

“Nobody goes to Waystop for the shopping. I might be little, but I’m not stupid.”

“You look normal size for a Taker to me,” Beeble squeaked.

“Yeah, well. I tell you what, I might forgive you for breaking my house and lying, if you can place this stone back on its foundation. It’s nicely hollowed. And it’d take me half a day to winch it back up again.”

“Shh,” Beeble said with a terrified glance up at the sky.

“No. I will not be quiet,” the little person snapped. “It—”

Stan hefted the river stone and placed it with care so that it fitted neatly over the house and clicked into place perfectly over the stone foundation.

I was impressed. That was some real craftship.

Now the little person was no longer complaining, the burble of the nearby river had me pining for cool, clear water. Water! My mouth was dry. My skin was dry. I almost made a dash for it when a shadow passed overhead.

A red dragon.

To read more Dragon Society Papers …

Happy Reading,
A.J. Ponder
P.S. You might want to also check out the first chapter of Into FaerLand or The Dragon Transport and Pacification Society