by Martha Carr
“If a trained dragon without a rider or a mage to direct him can fly alone to save a girl from monsters?” He focused his gaze on his trainer and snorted.
“Well, yeah…I guess.” William chuckled. “When you put it like that, it seems simple.”
“I believe it will be simple, William. And I believe I can do it. I will follow Leander and that should be enough.”
“Good.” He turned to study the other trainers and riders as they saddled their dragons and made last-minute preparations before the fleet began the journey farther north into the mountains. “What about the others?”
“I cannot speak for the others but they know what’s at stake. I think they will try.”
“Yeah, that’s the most we can ask of anyone here, isn’t it?”
Teo lowered his head again. “Indeed.”
“But promise me one thing.” William laooked at his dragon and patted the sinuous green neck. “You get out of there at the first sign of trouble. Got it? There’s a time for being heroic but taking on a beast ten times your size and who knows how old is plain stupid.”
“I am not a war dragon, William.”
The trainer smiled. “I know. But promise me.”
“As you wish. You have my word.”
“Thank you.”
When Headmaster Flynn finished his conversation with the other riders and their dragons who had volunteered, he returned to Leander and bowed slightly at the waist. The dragon acknowledged him politely. “Are you ready?”
“Always.”
“Good. Then would you be so kind as to—”
Leander lowered himself onto his belly so the headmaster could climb into the stirrup.
He chuckled. “I know you’re not my dragon or my familiar, but I can’t help the feeling that you can read my mind.”
The dragon snorted. “You’re not the first. Get on, mage.”
Still smiling, the headmaster stepped into the stirrup and swung his leg over the black dragon saddle he hadn’t ridden in fifty years. He adjusted his seat, gazed at the gathered fleet of dragons, and whistled loudly. “Mount up, riders. It’s time to bring Raven Alby home.”
Riders stepped into saddles and within minutes, the fleet of over a dozen dragons took to the sky outside Morningstar City, led by Leander with the headmaster of Fowler Academy on his back. Flynn left the harness wrapped around the pommel of the saddle and didn’t touch it at all.
“Now tell me, tiny mage. How does a familiar benefit from accepting such a position?” Po had lowered himself onto his belly on the protruding ledge outside the cave and even lying down, he was large enough to block the buffeting wind.
“Well, companionship, first of all.” Raven leaned back and propped herself up with her hands on the cool stone. “I told you Leander and I are friends. And that’s—” She belched and followed it with a surprised chuckle. “Excuse me.”
“Continue.”
She darted the huge black dragon a sidelong glance. He’s not offended by burping after breakfast so ancient-dragon etiquette only goes so far. “A familiar forms a special bond with their mage. Not as a pet or a mount or a work animal but more like equals.”
“But a familiar cannot practice magic.”
“Well…no.” She squinted at the rocky valley. “Mainly because they’re animals, I think. And dragons, of course. Only humans have magic, and not all of us. But every familiar has some kind of magical property. It’s inherent in them, even without bonding with a mage. The mage merely…brings it out.”
“And what does the mage receive in return?”
The girl opened her mouth to answer but another image from Leander burst into her mind. He was in the air again and wheeled to show her the view of most of the fleet settled on a rocky ledge below a massive ridge of sharp, jutting stone. William, Headmaster Flynn, and three other riders stood on the ground and looked at Leander. Teo and three other dragons, their saddles and harnesses removed, soared toward the ridge above the fleet in tight formation.
They’re here.
Raven’s heart fluttered and she straightened over her crossed legs.
“I asked you a question,” Po growled.
“Sorry.” She thumped a fist against her chest and shrugged, burped again, and sighed. “There it is.”
I can’t keep counting on coincidence and I can’t keep lying. Things are about to get intense.
“What a mage gets from their familiar,” she mused. “Well, first, a familiar helps to focus their mage’s abilities. It takes tremendous concentration to cast any kind of spell at first, when you’re starting out. Building a bond with a familiar helps kickstart that, in a way.”
“And what of mages who already understand their own potential?” He watched her with one golden eye, which flicked up and down by centimeters to take in her entire body.
“Well, the last part’s still true. Familiars help their mage focus, even an experienced mage. They add power and force to a mage’s magic. So a spell cast with a familiar’s added intention is much better than without it.”
Leander sent her another image of the five dragons reaching the top peak of the ridge. Almost.
“That hardly interests me.” Po snorted and a spray of dust and small rocks hurtle over the edge of the precipice. “What else?”
Raven pushed to her feet and turned her face to the small gusts of wind that streamed over the ancient black dragon’s hide. “My favorite part, so far, is that a mage and her familiar can communicate with each other across distances—almost like reading minds.”
His eye widened and he glanced at the five comparatively tiny dragons who glided over the highest edge of the valley behind them. He screeched and a heavy shower of large rocks tumbling from the walls beside the cave entrance. “What is this?”
“Do you see that red one?” She looked at him with quiet pride, her affection for Leander bright in her eyes. “That’s my familiar.”
Two more earsplitting shrieks rose from opposite ends of the valley. The monstrous gold dragon emerged first and her scales glinted in the sunlight. Moments later, the white male appeared out of another cave below and stretched his neck toward the five dragons circling in the valley.
“Why are they here?” Po demanded quickly and stood with a growl.
“For me. Nothing comes between a mage and her dragon, Po. Didn’t I tell you that?”
Right on cue, Leander swooped down and landed on the wide ledge on the other side of the cave. He kept his wings spread wide with sufficient room and lowered his head toward the massive black beast that could have eaten him in one bite. “She’s mine.”
With a shout of relief, Raven ran toward him. She barreled into his broad chest and wrapped her arms around the base of his neck. “You’re here!”
“Of course I’m here. Are you all right?”
She released him and stepped back as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “I’m fine. But we have to—”
“Stop!” Po roared. The other ancient dragons bellowed in response seconds before Teo and the three riderless dragons landed on the ledge beside Leander.
Behind them, the emerald-green beast emerged slowly and sniffed the air. “They smell like humans.” He opened his huge jaws to expose the flaring light of dragon fire glowing in the back of his throat.
The black dragon snarled. “I will rip you to pieces, brother. Hold!”
The green male snapped his jaws shut with a deafening crack and a puff of smoke.
“We will hear from the mage and this dragon familiar,” Po shouted. “Then I will decide.”
The silver dragon leered at them across the valley beside the white male and hissed. “That is not your decision to—”
“It is always my decision,” he roared. “Be silent!” After ensuring that his brethren wouldn’t challenge him further, the beast lowered his head and fixed his huge golden eyes on the five dragons and the young redheaded mage. “I have heard interesting details from the tiny mage. You will tell me, red o
ne, of being a dragon familiar.”
Leander lowered his head until it hovered over Raven’s shoulder and muttered, “What does he want to hear?”
“The truth, Leander. That’s the only thing that’s gonna get us out of here.”
He stepped forward and brushed her gently behind him with a twitch of his wing. “I could take her right now and be gone.”
“You could not.” Po’s rumble amusement made her head vibrate. “I swatted you from the sky like an insect, red one. If you deceive me, I will know. If you try to escape without telling me what I wish to hear, I will know. And none of you will leave this valley alive.”
Leander growled and stood his ground. “Raven Alby is my mage. And my friend.”
“So I’ve heard.” The black dragon sat on his haunches and lowered his massive head. “Continue.”
“I would have been one of those flightless dragons you tore apart if it weren’t for her.”
“Abominations!” the silver female shrieked.
“They have shamed themselves,” the green male hissed.
“No.” Leander stared at Po, but his voice carried across the valley. “Those were the dragons who refused to be trained, knowing full well what would become of them if they did not relent. I was the same until Raven showed me another way.”
“As her familiar,” Po rumbled.
“Yes. She broke the ways of training dragons and let me choose who I wanted to be. In return, I chose to be her familiar and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Behind him, Raven folded her arms and smiled. He’s got this.
“And what of these other dragons?” The black dragon sniffed the air and studied Teo and the three others who’d come to negotiate with the monstrous beasts from across the sea. “They are trained.”
“We are.” Teo stepped forward slowly, his silver eyes wide. “I cannot remember the last time I flew beyond the ranch I call home without my rider. Most of us never do.”
“Imprisoned!” the gold female shrieked.
“Never.” Teo turned his head to focus on the female, his confidence unwavering. “William Moss is his name. He has no magic and I am not a familiar but I call him my friend as well. He provides everything I need. Food, shelter, and space to roam with my clan. I allow him to put a saddle on my back and fly with me in return.”
“And you…enjoy this arrangement?” Po’s voice was much softer now and openly curious.
“It is a good life. Yes.”
The brown dragon beside him nodded. “My trainer’s name is Katerina Daverin. I hatched with a deformed paw, but she treated me no differently than the other dragons in my clan. No one believed I would be of much use. I now fly with the second-in-command of the kingdom’s military fleet in Delton’s Crossing. I have everything I need and more.”
Raven glanced at the brown female with wide eyes and the dragon nodded and fell silent.
Po snorted. “You did not bring your riders. Why?”
“To show you that we’ve come for Raven Alby,” Teo replied. “To take her home. Nothing more.”
“You would do this for a mage who is not your own?”
“We do it for her,” a gray dragon on the other side of Teo answered. “For our riders, too, and for the dragons who’ve lost the good lives they’ve had to destruction.”
Raven grimaced. Don’t blame the monster holding me captive.
“I see.” Po stood to his full height and stretched his long neck toward the sky. “Have you heard?”
The other four dragons raised their heads and screeched.
“I have decided, tiny mage.” The black beast lowered his head toward Raven and the five much smaller dragons. “I believe the testimony of these dragons. I believe your familiar. But I wish to know once more—”
“Lies!” The emerald-green male jerked his head up and hissed. “Look at what they bring while they deceive you?”
Every head looked up to see another dragon circling toward the valley from the northeast. This one was fully saddled and carried two riders on her back.
She swallowed. “Oh, no.”
“You.” Po glared at her and exhaled two massive clouds of black smoke.
“I don’t know who that is,” she replied and curled her hands into fists. “No one else was supposed to come.”
The green dragon opened his mouth and launched a column of fire into the sky as the dragon with two riders passed overhead and soared over the top of the highest valley ridge behind the cave. The dragon screeched and barely escaped the flames.
“You dare to think you can distract us while you bring more mages here?” The black dragon dug his claws into the ledge beneath him and threw up showers of sparks and pieces of stone as the other four dragons bellowed in anger. “More humans on another beast of burden?”
“No!” Raven stepped forward and shook her head. “That’s not—”
“Stand back, Raven.” Leander lowered his head in front of her to stop her. “And be ready.”
Po snorted more clouds of black smoke and roared. “You are nothing like you claim, tiny mage. And the rest of you runts are traitors to your entire kind. You let yourselves be used for this—”
“Go!” Leander shouted. Teo and the three dragonless riders vaulted skyward and darted toward the ridge to swoop down to safety.
The white dragon screeched and leapt from his perch in the valley. His massive shadow blocked out all light on the ledge where Raven stood as he unleashed more fire at the retreating dragons. Steel-like claws shrieked against the top of the ledge when he landed above her and Leander to peer after the escapees.
A massive boulder broke free and tumbled down the side of the ledge. Leander shoved his head into her back and threw her forward. They both escaped the rock that hurtled toward them before it bounced and toppled over the ledge.
The white beast snarled. “There are more!”
“What?”
“Dragons and riders below. You’ve been eating lies, brother.”
“Impossible!”
Raven pushed herself off her knees as Leander nudged her shoulder in concern. “Are you hurt?”
She turned and caught his muzzle with both hands. “No. You?”
“I’m fine.”
“You will never leave this valley, human,” Po declared. “I will finally enjoy that snack.”
To steady herself, she looked into Leander’s glowing yellow eyes and swallowed. “We’re not giving up now, right?”
“Never.”
The black dragon reared and opened his mouth. Fire built in his throat with a hiss.
“Okay. On three. One…” She let go and nodded. “Two…”
“Verecundia!” The voice resounded over the valley, and a bolt of blue light crackled from behind Po’s head all the way to the jagged cliffs on the other side.
The black dragon’s jaw snapped shut, and as he whirled to face the source, his barbed scales scraped against the stone wall and sparked.
“Absolutio lychnus!” The blue light crackled toward the valley floor, and while he lowered his head to follow its descent, a shower of small pebbles fell from another narrow shelf above the black beast. The falling rubble came closer and closer toward her and the soles of black boots appeared at the edge of the stone ledge. “Erigo.”
The boots illuminated with white light before someone leapt over the edge, and a man in a dark cloak surrounded by the light of his own levitation spell descended to the stone between Raven Alby and her infuriated captor.
Chapter Thirty
When the blinding light faded, Raven gasped and lurched forward. “Grandpa!”
Connor Alby turned and the edges of his cloak whipped in the buffeting wind. He held a hand out for her to wait. “Almost, Raven. Be ready.”
“What is this?” Po spun again, scraped against the walls, and released huge showers of sparks.
The old man didn’t even flinch. “My name is Connor Alby, mage and dragon rider. I’ve come to speak to you in person, great one,
and to take Raven and Leander home.”
The dragon snorted and his black, scaly lips glistened as they peeled back to expose teeth almost as long as the man who stood before him. “You would risk yourself here for this hatchling?”
With a thin smile, the man tilted his head and stared at the black beast. “That hatchling is my granddaughter. And at this point, she is all I have left to lose. If you want the truth about what mages and dragons have accomplished together, let me show you.”
The white dragon perched on top of the ridge shifted to turn and more loose boulders tumbled down the mountain on both sides. “More deception.”
“Enough.” Po looked at him and snarled. “A mage who came here willingly must have something to say. I will listen.”
With a screech, the white dragon launched from the ridge and swooped across the valley to return to his roost, hissing until he disappeared inside another huge cave.
Raven and Leander stepped toward the other side of the tunnel entrance. “What does he mean?” he asked
The young mage shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“What have you come to show me, mage?” Po rumbled.
Connor gestured with both hands. “Everything I know.”
With a snort, the dragon narrowed his huge golden eyes and lowered his head slowly. “If you lie—”
“You’ll smell it. Yes. I came to bring you the truth, dragon. Do you want it or not?”
“Show me.” The black beast’s nostrils flared as he lowered his head all the way to Connor’s outstretched hands. Mage and ancient dragon touched and the entire valley fell still.
A glowing orb of opalescent light erupted where his hands touched Po’s snout. It bloomed in shimmering, rippling colors until it formed a dome over them and held them within the mage’s immense magic and his ability to commune with a beast from across the sea.
He focused his entire being on the memories of his time spent training to become a mage. The images flashed in his mind as he shared them with Po—sparring in the field at Fowler Academy, meeting his dull-yellow dragon Honalei at a ranch outside Havendom, his first flight upon her back, and the bond they shared when he was still young and capable of anything he wished. The memories expanded to the rest of Lomberdoon to show military fleets of dragons training with their riders, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. He thought of patrols, of dragons soaring in droves with their mages and riders to fight the Swarm in the Great War and of dragons helping to build the wall around the kingdom for protection and peace.