Yes, I’m quite magnificent, aren’t I?
Bhrava Saruth rolled in the air as he closed on the cave. Raff, eyes wide, pressed his back to the side opposite of Taylina, appearing more concerned than admiring of the dragon’s magnificence.
But they needn’t have worried. Bhrava Saruth entered the cave like a bird alighting on a branch. His talons clasped the edge, and he kept his wings pressed to his sides so he wouldn’t hit Raff or Taylina. Admittedly, there was not much room to spare. Taylina found herself looking at Bhrava Saruth’s scaled side from up close as he crouched low to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling.
Bhrava Saruth trotted a few paces past them and into the tunnel, his talons clacking on the stone floor, but he halted as soon as he could see around the bend. Hm.
“Did it all collapse?” Raff asked.
Indeed so. At least nobody need look at Bergethor's hideous decor again.
“What exactly happened to Bergethor?” Taylina eyed the night sky, worried that another dragon would come into sight, one who was displeased with the state of his centuries-old home.
We dueled! Did you not see us battling in the sky? I’m sure it was an impressive sight.
“We were busy trying not to get smashed by boulders,” Raff muttered.
Taylina made a shushing gesture over Bhrava Saruth’s tail. She didn’t want to chance irritating the dragon. He had come back, and, she hoped, planned to grant that favor he had promised.
“Did you win the battle?” she asked. “Is he… indisposed?”
The last I saw him, he was fleeing toward the mainland. I am more powerful and more cunning than he is. Without his cowardly trap, he was no match for me, and I’ve already used my powers to heal myself.
While it was good that Bergethor was gone for now, Taylina worried that he might return one day to lash out against her people in retaliation. Or maybe he would specifically hunt her down. Could dragons tell humans apart? Or did they all look the same to the great scaled creatures?
“Time to ask him something?” Raff murmured, tilting his head toward the massive backside pointed in their direction.
“Yes.” Taylina cleared her throat. “Ah, Bhrava Saruth? You mentioned that you would grant us a favor if we helped you…”
Indeed! Bhrava Saruth started to back up—there wasn’t room enough in the tunnel for him to turn around—but made a noise between a grumble and a growl and stopped. He seemed to melt in front of their eyes, and Taylina sucked in a startled breath.
He wasn’t melting; he was transforming.
Even though he had spoken of shape-shifting earlier, and she had heard of such things in stories, she couldn’t help but gape when a shaggy gray dog stood in the tunnel where he had been. The dog spun about, making the turn easily, and bounded to the edge. He stood between Taylina and Raff, wagging his shaggy tail, a big pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. He looked at Taylina, his eyes still the same emerald green, still emitting the same sense of power. Intimidating power. Then he winked, right before he rolled onto his back, his legs in the air, crooked at the joints. He looked at her again, expectation in that gaze.
“I believe he wants another belly rub,” Raff said.
Taylina bit her lip, resisting the urge to say—or think—that this was an odd dragon. Instead, she crouched down, shifting to one knee so her hip wouldn’t ache any more than it already did, and patted what was now a warm, furry belly.
“Bhrava Saruth,” she said as he made contented noises. “We need that favor.”
Yes, you wish to have your leg healed? he asked.
“I…” She did wish that, but if they would only get one favor, she couldn’t waste it on herself. “No. You know about the other dragons and the Cofah warships and soldiers. That’s our town over there that they’re attacking.”
Yes, they are attacking towns all over Iskandoth, Bhrava Saruth said. It is most distressing for the humans living there. With all the dragons and troops they brought for the invasion, it is likely the Cofah Empire means to stay and occupy this land.
Though distressed by the statement, Taylina firmed her chin and said, “Well, we can’t let them occupy this island. This is my home, and I mean to convince them to leave. Somehow.”
Raff gave her a sad look. Was he so certain that they couldn’t do it? They had a dragon on their side now. A mighty dragon. So what if he thought he was a god? Or a dog.
A most challenging mission you have given yourself, Bhrava Saruth said.
“It would be less challenging with the help of a dragon.”
Bhrava Saruth hesitated, and Taylina bit her lip, afraid he would deny her request, that he wouldn’t redeem his favor after all.
They have three dragons, Bhrava Saruth said. Granted, one is only a silver, but even they are scrappy fighters. Further, the Cofah can easily call in reinforcements from the mainland. The battle goes poorly over there. The Iskandian dragons are outnumbered and have been driven back to the mountains.
“But you are a cunning dragon,” Taylina said. “You said so yourself.”
This is true. He shifted so she could rub a spot under his armpit.
“What if we convince the Cofah to leave by employing cunning rather than brute force?” Taylina asked. “After all, I am not a warrior, as you can see, and Raff is more of a toolmaker than a powerful sorcerer.”
“I’m a powerful toolmaker,” Raff informed her with a sniff.
“I thought that perhaps you two could bond, and he could become a rider for you, and then we could all figure out a way to drive out the Cofah. With cunning. Such as you used before.” She would not point out that his cunning had nearly backfired.
You wish this male to ride me? Bhrava Saruth rolled over and came to a sitting position, giving Raff a flat look. Males do not ride Bhrava Saruth. Despite my earlier ruse, I am most certainly not female.
“Oh?” Taylina looked at Raff, but he only shrugged. “Do male riders never ride male dragons? And vice versa? I didn’t know.”
Rarely. We usually bond with the opposite sex, if we bond at all. Proud dragons do not allow themselves to be ridden and have no interest in human affairs.
“But you’re not overly proud, right? You do like belly rubs, after all.”
I am not overly proud, but I am proud. Would you not be proud if you were a god?
“What makes you think you’re a god?” Raff asked, waving at Bhrava Saruth’s furry canine form.
I have always known I was different from other dragons. I am special.
“I won’t argue with that,” Raff muttered.
Bhrava Saruth turned his back to him and faced Taylina. I do not believe we can beat the Cofah invaders, but I will allow you to ride me.
She blinked. “Me? But I don’t have any powers. I thought only powerful sorcerers and sorceresses became dragon riders.”
You have many ideas. And you are willing to deliver belly rubs. These are important traits in a rider.
Taylina stared at her hand, having a hard time imagining a mighty sorceress with a soulblade rubbing a dragon’s scales.
“But how would I ride into battle with you?” She had seen pictures and read books regarding great battles in the sky with dragons and their riders clashing with their enemies. What could she do to assist in such a battle?
We will find you a magical weapon that you can use. Bhrava Saruth looked back toward the rubble-filled cavern. Preferably something that doesn’t blow up.
“That explosion freed you from your prison,” Raff pointed out.
Messily so, yes. Bhrava Saruth walked to the entrance to the cave, his canine front paws almost curling over the edge, then transformed into a dragon again. Come. Get on.
“Where are we going?” Raff asked.
Taylina couldn’t see him through Bhrava Saruth, whose massive form now filled the mouth of the cave.
To a vista where we can see the enemy and make plans. Cunning plans.
“Are we both invited?” Taylina asked.
&
nbsp; I will allow your male to ride me for now.
“Your male?” Raff asked.
“Magnanimous of you,” Taylina said, shushing Raff with a hand, even though he could not see the gesture.
Yes. Climb on.
“Uhm.” She regarded his high, scaled back, not sure how she could climb up. In some of the pictures she had seen, the dragons had worn something akin to saddles.
Saddles? I am not a horse. One does not saddle a dragon. One definitely does not saddle a god.
“Then how—” She broke off with a squawk as she was lifted into the air.
This time, it wasn’t Raff grabbing her. She floated toward the ceiling as if she weighed nothing, then landed astraddle Bhrava Saruth’s back.
Raff gaped up at her from the other side, but it turned into a grimace. “I don’t need help,” he said, perhaps in response to some silent comment from Bhrava Saruth.
He grabbed onto what Taylina thought of as the dragon’s knee, though that probably wasn’t the right term, and scrambled up on his own, pulling himself onto Bhrava Saruth’s back behind Taylina. He dragged the tool bag into his lap.
Careful there. You’ve got some poky things in that bag.
“I had no idea dragons were so sensitive through their scales,” Raff said. “Can’t you deflect swords with your armored flesh?”
If our scales were not sensitive, we would not enjoy being rubbed so. It’s our magic that deflects attacks. Bhrava Saruth bunched his back legs and sprang into the air.
Taylina gasped and looked for something to grab, but the smooth scales offered no handholds. She flopped onto her belly, laying her arms to either side of the dragon’s spine and pressing her cheek to his back. Wind whipped at her, tugging at her clothes and her hair. Bhrava Saruth’s great wings flapped, lifting them high into the air. She expected to feel the breeze from those wings or to tumble off his back the first time he tilted, but a calmness settled around him. The wind stopped, and when he banked to the left to turn back toward the island, she did not feel the tug of gravity.
Relax, human riders. I will not allow you to fall.
“Comforting,” Raff muttered.
Taylina said nothing, too busy looking all around as they sailed above the sea. By night, there was not much to see, but she instantly adored this experience. What a magnificent way to travel. There was no need to run or walk, no need to propel her awkward leg into motion and risk twisting it the wrong way and eliciting pain. It was better than riding horseback, something that had always jarred her body. It was… brilliant.
Yes, Bhrava Saruth said agreeably. I find it to be so.
“Can we get my staff?” she asked, as he headed inland. As much as she enjoyed the flight, they would land eventually, and she would have to walk again. Unfortunately. She would have preferred to travel this way for the rest of her life.
Bhrava Saruth circled back toward the spot where Taylina had left the staff.
“Can you get it for me, please, Raff?” she asked when Bhrava Saruth alighted on the rocks. She did not want the dragon to use his magic to lift her up and down more than necessary.
He snorted. “So, now that you’re the dragon rider instead of the woodworker, you expect people to get things for you?”
She glanced back, surprised by the bitterness in his voice. Night was still deep enough that she couldn’t see his expression.
“Sorry,” he said. “Never mind. I’ll get it.”
No need, Bhrava Saruth said. I see it.
The staff floated out of the darkness and came to rest in Taylina’s hand.
“Must be nice to have a dragon working for you,” Raff said.
He was bitter. Why? Because Bhrava Saruth had wanted a female rider instead of a male? Raff hadn’t even wanted to ride a dragon—or come along to this side of the island.
“Let’s focus on what we can do to help our people,” she said, trying to be the mature one, though his attitude stung.
“All right. You have a plan yet?”
“No. We need to find out what’s happening.”
Bhrava Saruth flexed his wings and sprang into the air again. As I said, we will head to a vista where that can be determined. I shall dampen my aura so the other dragons can’t easily track my movements.
“Good,” Taylina said, though she hadn’t even known that would be a problem.
Perhaps when you see how the odds are stacked against us, you will reconsider your favor, Bhrava Saruth said as they flew toward the center of the island. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to throw away that staff forever? I can see inside your leg and know what must be done.
“You’re looking inside my leg?” Taylina asked, joking because she didn’t want to stay on this topic. She wanted her family to be all right and for the Cofah to leave. Whatever they had to do to make that happen… that was the favor she needed. “That’s kind of an invasion of privacy, isn’t it?”
Humans have strange notions.
“Yes, we do.” Taylina looked toward the north, the direction from which the Cofah had come. Why were they harassing Iskandoth, anyway? Why did their stupid empire have to extend across the entire world? Didn’t their vast continent contain enough people and resources for them?
Bhrava Saruth flew so high that Taylina’s fear returned. She leaned forward, flattening her body to his back again. Even if he had promised not to let them fall, she couldn’t help but be daunted by their altitude.
He tilted, so she could see even from her awkward perch, and the outline of the entire island came into view, a dark mass rising up from the ocean. Here and there, she could pick out the white caps of waves breaking. As they flew closer to the north end, she could also see the fire where the olive grove had been. The flames had died down, but the remains of the poor trees still burned. Many of them had been hundreds of years old. In the town itself, lanterns and bonfires burned wherever she looked, though most of the buildings and houses lay dark.
Bhrava Saruth drifted lower, and soldiers walking the streets grew visible. Many soldiers. Taylina could not tell what they were doing, but that they were there and still awake told her plenty. She couldn’t imagine how their little team would be able to sneak in and free her people. Where were they even being held? In town somewhere? Out on those warships?
Six of the ships were anchored in the harbor, with lanterns outlining the decks. Soldiers also patrolled there. Taylina shook her head, hardly able to believe the Cofah had brought so many to subdue the people of her island. Subdue, or kill? She swallowed as the thought came to mind that maybe people weren’t being captured. She didn’t see any piles of dead bodies, but who knew what the soldiers had come to do? What if all this was because of the tool shop? She and Raff had been working for the last two years, since he returned from his sorcery schooling, to provide the Iskandian army with magical tools to help them defend the country. Had the Cofah tracked those tools to her island? Was it her fault they had brought such an invasion force?
“I feel sick,” she said.
“It’s because he’s swirling around so much,” Raff said. “You have to have an iron stomach for this.”
Taylina shook her head again. Yes, she found the height daunting, even alarming, but the flying was wonderful. Her sickness had nothing to do with swirling.
I must fly away from the area, Bhrava Saruth announced, turning toward the dark sea. I believe one of the dragons sensed my presence.
Even though Taylina did not want to turn away—there was so much she needed to learn if she was going to come up with a plan—she couldn’t blame him for leaving. What could they do if those three dragons discovered him and flew after him? She couldn’t ask him to get himself killed on her people’s behalf.
We can come back once it quiets down more, Bhrava Saruth said. Even dragons sleep. Unless they’re disgruntled and frustrated because someone promised them a female in heat, who turned out to be a male in chains.
“We have to find our people, the ones who escaped,” Taylina said, t
wisting to look at Raff. “When we come back, can you lead us to where my brother and the others were? They’ll be our best resource and hopefully know what’s happening.”
“I can take you to them,” Raff said, “but how are we going to explain this?” He patted Bhrava Saruth’s back.
“He’s a god. They should be delighted to meet him.”
Bhrava Saruth did not say anything, but he made a contented purr-like sound in her mind.
“Or they’ll run in the other direction, shrieking because they have every reason to be terrified of dragons right now,” Raff said.
“Maybe we’ll just walk in with a fluffy dog at our side.”
“I don’t think our people are going to be in the mood to give belly rubs right now.”
“They might when they learn that Bhrava Saruth is willing to help us.”
“Right, and how’s he going to do that exactly?” Raff asked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
“Promising.”
6
Bhrava Saruth landed on a rocky slope behind the burning olive grove, the shadows of night still thick. Even though the day had been long and Taylina felt a great deal had happened, she judged it was only about midnight. They had several hours before dawn to do… something. Unfortunately, she didn’t know exactly what that would be.
“Can you tell if our people are where you left them?” she asked Raff, after they slid off Bhrava Saruth’s back.
“Those who weren’t captured—or worse—are scattered all throughout the hills, but I can lead us to your brother’s group. His aura is very familiar to me—I’ve cadged many dinners at your family’s house, after all. He’s in that direction.” He pointed, the gesture hard to make out in the dark. “With about twenty others.”
“My parents? My sister?”
“I think I sense your mother and father. Your sister… I haven’t seen, or sensed, since this all started.”
Taylina grimaced. Her little sister was the least likely to be able to take care of herself. If the Cofah captured her and questioned her for some reason, they might grow frustrated and violent with her, simply because she didn’t understand what was happening.