by Jada Fisher
She didn’t realize that it was encrusted with dried blood until she felt the uncomfortable sort of cracking when she pressed it to his cool scales. But Fior didn’t seem to mind and warbled gratefully that she was awake.
She treasured that moment, soaking it into her memory as much as she could. But she couldn’t stay that way forever. She knew that if she was going to survive this, she needed to take full inventory of the situation and find whatever advantages she could.
After all, wasn’t that what Yacrist said she was good at?
Thinking of the tall, handsome boy made her stomach twist. If he had been upset seeing her after the healer incident, he was probably beside himself now that she had pitched herself into the wagon of a dragon poacher.
Oh well. He could tell her off when she got back home.
And she would.
She had worked too hard to let her story end like this. Besides, Fior hadn’t finished his hardtack yet and he’d be pretty upset if they both died before it was thoroughly chewed.
That thought gave her hope, and she finally turned to see what was waiting for her.
It was night, something that she hadn’t noticed before, which was curious. She certainly seemed to be able to see much better than she should, but perhaps that was due to the roaring fire in the center of the camp.
She could clearly see the men milling about and counted them up, taking note of any possible injuries when she could. There were fifteen total. One with a limp, two with very swollen, busted lips, and three with black eyes. She recognized one as the man she had laid out with her knee, but other than that, everything had been such a rush that she couldn’t really recall who had been doing what.
Alright. So, fifteen opponents, and she needed to get both herself and Fior free. That was certainly a difficult task. But not impossible…
Right?
The closest bandit caught her gaze as she thoroughly examined everything, trying to spot weaknesses or weapons. Her stomach dropped as he arrogantly strode toward her, a smug look across his brutish features.
“Ah, so the crazy lass is finally up now.” He chuckled as if seeing her bound there, glaring up at him, was so hilarious. “I’ve never seen a dragon rider straight-up pitch themselves at us after we’ve taken their youngling. You’re quite something, aren’t you?”
“I’m just a kid,” she answered back, figuring she would start with the easiest and least likely to succeed option. “I’m addled, as is my dragon. If you were looking to fetch a price for either of us, you won’t get much of one.”
If she undervalued them, there was indeed a chance the bandits would just outright kill them. But it was better than actually getting to whatever black market or slave auction they intended to take them to. Once there, Eist was sure she would have no chance of escape.
“We don’t have to worry about selling either of you at auction. Someone was looking for this little guy specifically. You, you weren’t requested, but the way we figure, you’ll either be a bonus, or we’ll just kill you.”
Eist ignored the threat to her life. It wasn’t useful information, so it could be ignored. But the other half of what he said… “Who would pay for a stunted dragon? He barely has his teeth in. You can clearly see that he’s not normal.”
Of course, Eist didn’t really care about any of that stuff beyond it affecting her boy’s health, but it seemed like a good thing to make this brigand doubt their contract. She doubted this mystery person had paid them up front, because who would for her dragon? As far as the outside world was concerned, he was damaged. They didn’t know the amazing, loyal champ that he was.
They probably didn’t know that he had saved her life.
“I don’t care if he’s normal,” the bandit snorted. “He’s bringing in a lot of gold, and that’s all that matters.”
He gripped her chin, pulling her face up to him. “You two do seem to go together. There’s something a bit freaky about your eyes, ain’t there? That could fetch a good price if the buyer doesn’t want you. There are some real degenerates out there who like a girl who looks possessed by something.”
Wait. What? “Eyes? What do you mean? You mean eye, right? As in singular?”
The bandit just snorted and walked away, leaving Eist thoroughly confused. Was he trying to trick her? Was he just uneducated and didn’t know what singular meant?
He had done well in riling her up, and Eist fought internally to get back to neutral. She needed to be calm and examine the information she had.
But it was hard to do so when Fior started whining and a cold shiver went down her back. The kind that happened when one was alone in the middle of the night and felt something watching them. The kind that made one look over their shoulder and wonder what was there.
She didn’t like it.
She tried to call out to another bandit, to get more information on who this mysterious buyer was, but they all ignored her. It seemed they too sensed whatever was making her so uncomfortable, and some of their hands went to the weapons at their sides.
A shadow drifted across the sky ominously as a cloud covered the moon overhead. Dread filled Eist’s middle, growing as a man stepped out of the line of trees, as if his entrance was completely normal.
He was still too far away for her to catch his features, but she knew that she should be afraid. It clawed up her spine and tainted the taste in her mouth, making her heart thunder in her chest. Something was inherently wrong with the man, and it felt like all of nature was trying to expunge him from existence.
He strode forward slowly, deliberately, and the bandits parted for him. In any other situation, it might have been amusing to see such massive, intense men so cowed by a relatively slender stranger, but she was too drenched in apprehension to feel any sort of levity.
He made his way straight for Fior, who was growling and snarling in his chains like Eist had never heard. Not even with the healer. Whoever this man was, he was clearly dangerous, and Eist didn’t want him anywhere near her charge.
Finally, he was close enough that she could make out his features, and she was surprised to see that he was relatively nondescript.
He was tall, but not quite as tall as Athar. He seemed relatively fit, but he wasn’t muscled like the hulking men around him. His hair was dark and straight, and he bore no scars or other markings. His eyes were the color of what would have been a comforting hazel on anyone else, but in his, Eist only saw a threat.
“What is this?” he asked, sounding curiously amused rather than upset.
One of the bandits stepped forward, his expression somewhere between apprehensive and outright terrified. “She’s his rider. She threw herself into—”
The mystery man threw up a hand, and the bandit stopped short. “I know exactly who this is.”
He crouched before Eist, a smile on his face. If it was daytime and she was in any other situation, she might have thought him charming when he grinned at her. But all she could feel now was her body panicking, trying to flee from the danger in front of her but not being able to.
“You’re the little rapscallion that fought pretty, pretty Persinnia, aren’t you?”
That name made her whole insides lurch, calling up so many things that she had fought so hard to forget. Everyone made great care not to mention the name of the healer that had attacked her and Eist appreciated that, but now she found herself plunged right back into that nightmare.
“Who are you?” Eist hissed, her voice barely escaping from between her tightly-clenched teeth.
“Oh, that doesn’t really matter now, does it? I’ve heard a lot about you, though, young lady. Do you know that you’re the talk of my little circle?”
“How flattering.” Her tone grew even more venomous. Even though she was utterly terrified inside, that fear just made her angry. She hated feeling weak. She hated feeling threatened. And she resented that this man was putting her back into the position where she felt powerless. If he hadn’t paid for these brigands to get Fior,
she would be back at the academy and listening to her little guy gnawing away at his new collection of bones and rawhide. “And does that circle also talk about how rude it is to try to ruin the only free days that Fior and I have?”
“There’s that fire. I remember watching you as you fought.” Watching? Was he there? That didn’t make any sense! That was impossible! “You were completely outmatched, and she was ready to send you to the All-Mother right then and there, but you kept fighting, clawing your way to survival.”
His eyes crinkled as his smile grew. “It makes sense that you were the one meant for our special friend there…” His kind gaze swept to Fior before returning to her. “You know the things I could accomplish if more of my followers were like you?”
“If more of them were like me, then they wouldn’t be followers.”
Although her body was pumped full of terror like her experience with the healer, telling her that she needed to run, needed to get away, this man was making no move to touch her. He just crouched there, looking her over as if she was greatly entertaining.
But she didn’t want to be entertaining. She wanted to take his smile, turn it into a toothy dagger, and shove it down his throat. She wanted to rip her bonds and whisk Fior away from any hint of danger.
She couldn’t, however, so she was left with just her sharp words and even sharper glares.
“You have a point there. I’ve been told you were clever. I’m glad to see that you are.” His gaze roved over her face finally and she felt a bit like he was seeing her naked. “I thought I saw that you had something different about your eyes,” he murmured. “Perhaps it’s too dark to notice that witch’s kiss?”
“Maybe,” Eist said sweetly. “Or maybe you’re just not looking close enough. Just lean a little closer.”
He laughed at that, looking utterly pleased. Eist was so confused by the whole situation. She could feel that he was dangerous, that he could kill her at any moment, but he seemed content to just talk to her like they were old friends.
“You lot did well to bring her to me,” the man said. “I’ll pay you double.”
Eist paled at that. He didn’t want her dead? Sure, that gave her a chance to try to free Fior and escape, but the thought of going with this man made her sick.
“I’ll kill you,” Eist hissed, hoping that he could feel how incredibly serious she was.
Suddenly his hand shot out, large fingers wrapping around her throat and squeezing tightly. “You are a fun little soul, but do not mistake my amicable nature for softness. You are afraid of me, as you should be, but you’ll need to learn to respect me as well.”
Eist’s vision was going grey, but this wasn’t the first time someone had tried to manhandle her in such a way. Collecting her spit toward the front of her mouth, she used the last bit of her breath to propel the gob toward his face.
It hit, alright, but not his face. It seemed to hit a sort of invisible wall in front of him, then sizzled into nothing.
Fior was going insane beside her, screeching and hissing and ripping at his bonds. If he was the age where he could spit fire, she was sure that he would have the entire forest alight. She needed to stop scaring him, but it was hard when she was so outclassed yet again.
“Well, that wasn’t very ladylike,” he murmured, releasing pressure ever-so-slightly to bring his thumb up to her lips. She bared her teeth at him, but he just pressed the digit against them, harder and harder until she gasped in pain.
He continued, thumb pinching down her tongue, and she could feel his nail cutting into the slick flesh there, sending blood leaking into her mouth. She coughed and wretched, trying to pull her head away, but he held her fast. “I know most people let you run wild because they don’t know how to deal with you, or they’re intimidated, but I assure you that I have no such compunction.” He leaned in, his eyes sparkling with what looked like sheer joy as he threatened her. “If this tongue continues to offend me, I’ll cut it off.”
Eist blubbered something, her words just turning to unintelligible gibberish around his thumb. He laughed and finally the digit was pulled away, allowing her to speak.
“What was that? An apology?”
Eist’s didn’t answer him, however, instead using his close proximity to headbutt him with all of her might. The front of her skull slammed into the side of his, catching him right in the temple. Eist actually managed to make him rock backwards a bit in surprise, but she was quickly reminded that using her head as a weapon after taking two direct blows to it and losing consciousness wasn’t the best idea.
“I see you’re going to be difficult.” The man’s voice dropped and his whole demeanor started to change, growing more and more menacing by the moment. “You know, your grandfather fought me too. He tried to cling to your reality so hard, and particularly to you. I wonder how he would feel if I sent him your head without that waggling tongue of yours?”
His hand reached for her again, but this time, his fingers were crackling with what looked like tiny bolts of lightning. Her breath left her again, but she refused to meet her end crying, so she righted herself and braced for death.
“I’m sorry, Fior,” she whispered. She hated to leave him alone, but it was clear that she had tumbled into something far beyond her capabilities.
That seemed to trigger something in the little dragon because he stilled, and finally fell silent for the first time since the man had approached them. The stranger noticed him, and his smile was back.
“Peculiar, I expected that this would be the time that you would really—”
He never finished that sentence.
Eist looked back to Fior just in time to see his chest puff up, his eyes bulge, and then a mighty bellow burst from his mouth in a percussive blast.
Eist was thrown to the ground, the cry from her charge’s throat so loud that she could hear nothing else. But if it was loud for her, it was clearly excruciating for everyone else, as the rest of the men were rolling across the ground, their mouths open in screams that didn’t reach her ears and their hands holding the sides of their heads.
Her head was swimming from yet another fall, but she knew her opportunity when she saw it. She rolled over to Fior, presenting back to him where her tied hands were.
She felt his claws tearing at her bonds, scratching her several times while the continued roar from his mouth sent her hair flying around her face. She knew that she would be able to hear nothing for the next few hours, but that didn’t matter. As long as everyone stayed down, and she stayed up.
Finally, her hands were free, and she lurched to her feet, her head still spinning. Turning around, she saw that most of the chains around Fior’s front had burst, leaving only the back ones, which it was easy to wiggle him out of.
Tucking him under his arm with his mouth still aimed toward the men, she ran toward one of the horses. They whinnied, clearly displeased with the cacophony, but Eist reached for the calmest one.
“Hey there,” she said, having no idea how to interact with such a large creature. Nearly double her height and staring at her with dark eyes. “I don’t know how to ride you, but please, I need your help.”
The horse continued to stare at her and she didn’t know whether she should give up and just peel out on foot, but after a beat, it turned around and knelt for her, allowing her to get onto its bare back before standing upright.
Fior was still bellowing away, his voice a mighty roar pointed always behind her as they took off. Eist held on as tightly as she could with her free hand and her knees, but she still bounced around on the horse’s shiny back.
Trees began to whip by, and then they were on some sort of a vague path. It was clear the bandits used this camp often and there had to be some sort of path to civilization. She couldn’t believe it! They were actually getting away. Somehow, someway, Fior had saved her life yet again.
It was probably too soon to be sure, but she couldn’t help but let out a happy, almost manic sort of laugh. Sure, her mouth tasted lik
e blood and her head was spinning, and her ears were ringing from Fior’s ringing call, but they were running. They were free!
But as she sat straight, letting a breath of relief rush through her, there was the faintest of whistles before suddenly, what felt like a crack of lightning went right through her left shoulder.
Eist cried out and nearly toppled off the horse. Fior loosened from her grip, but she forced herself to hold on through the pain.
“By the Three,” she gasped, looking down at her front as if her brain was trying to puzzle out what was going on.
It seemed like her mind was on a bit of a delay, because she was looking down at her front, but it still took her several more ragged breaths to realize that she was seeing an arrowhead sticking out of the flesh between her arm and chest.
That wasn’t supposed to be there.
She wobbled again in the seat and finally Fior stopped screaming, climbing up her shirt and tucking his head under her chin. He lapped at the wound, his spit soothing it. She knew that would probably just make her bleed more, but it was taking all of her strength to hold onto the horse and not end up on the side of the road to be retaken.
Because if that man found her, whoever he was, she was absolutely sure that he would kill her right then and there. That was a man that one didn’t want to anger, and she had ruined his plans twice. Eist had never felt such a target on her back before, and she knew that if she somehow did get away, she would never be able to go back to just being the crippled girl at the academy.
They rode for what felt like hours, time meaning nothing. All that existed was the galloping of the horse and Fior’s worried whines. Pain and heat alternated in domination over her mind, turning all of the world into a wobbly, runny sort of mess that blended together in a string of discomfort. Eventually, however, torches came into view and they stumbled into a town.