From the Mountain

I am snapped awake by movement…not the kind I would expect. I feel something on the ropes of my wrists, a sawing motion that I fear and treasure all at once. It is a knife. Of that I am sure. I am also positive that it is cutting the ropes that bind my wrists.

  It is still pitch black, but I search with urgency for who is doing this. Lanton? Dorgan? Why would they cut us free in the middle of the night? I squint my eyes tightly, straining to see in the darkness, and I spot the outline of a diminutive figure. It is a small man. Or a large boy. I start to speak, to ask him who he is and what he is doing.

  But before I can say anything, the silhouette of the man – or boy – places his finger to his lips as if to shush me. Then he takes his other hand, points to the Destroyers and makes a slicing motion across his neck. I pull my eyebrows down. What is he trying to tell me? Oh… I need to be quiet or the Destroyers will wake up and cut my throat. I nod my head, clamping my lips tightly together.

  Thann stands up, shaking his wrists free and then rubbing them, his mammoth frame silhouetted against the black night and the tall tree. Just then the ropes snap off my wrists. Freedom and relief flood through me like a tidal wave, and I turn my attention to the ropes that fall to the ground, like dead white snakes lying in a small pile. I shakily stand up, stroking my bloody wrists, wanting to scream out with both joy and pain. I scan the darkness in all directions, searching for Thann, blood dripping from my wrists onto the ground. He is nowhere to be found, and my stomach sinks at the thought of being alone.

  The little man motions for me to follow him, and I have no choice but to do so. He lithely steps through the leaves and branches without making a sound, and I wonder once again where Thann is. Could this be a trap?

  I follow as quietly as I can, shaking my bloody wrists as I go. But I was raised in the city. Twigs snap under my feet and leaves crunch beneath me like dried up paper. Will the Destroyers hear it? I try to step more lightly, and sweat forms over my body from the effort. Finally, the little man stops, and I am concentrating so hard that I crash into him.

  As I gather my bearings, I spot the faintest outline of a small black dragon ahead of us, and a tall, broad person already straddled on it. It must be Thann. I exhale, perhaps a little too loudly.

  The little man pushes me toward the dragon, and I obediently jump on it…right behind Thann. I sigh in relief. His familiar body comforts me, even though my knee continues to ache, my left hand is throbbing, and my wrists are raw and oozing blood. I ignore them as I grab onto Thann’s midsection with my right hand, my left hand lying limp by my side.

  The tiny man hops onto another dragon, so small and dark I can barely see it. He motions for us to follow him, and Thann nods. The man and the small dragon take flight, silently soaring high into the starless ebony sky.

  Our dragon spreads its wings, so different from the Lav we just rode on – peacefully, gracefully. Like an oversized butterfly, it takes off smoothly into the night sky. I wonder what time it is and squeeze my eyes against the bleak darkness, but there is no way of telling. The moonless sky and the stars seem to be playing hide and seek with me. I gaze up, feeling the wind blow across my face, Thann’s strong body in front of mine, and the pure joy of being in the air…away from the Destroyers.

  I don’t know where we are going, who the little man is, and why Thann seems to trust him so much. I do know that it has to be better than where we just were and who we were with.

  Or being turned over to Siv Gareth.

  The Mountain