Shadow

by Mark Robson

  There was no sign of the snake’s carcass, but the contented feeling she sensed from Fang told her all she needed to know. If he had not eaten the snake by himself, the dragons had shared it. She shuddered. They were welcome to it. Snake meat had never been a favourite. It was not the flavour. It was the thought of what she was eating that put her off. So much for the hardened hunter, she thought, with an inward grimace.

  They mounted their dragons. Nolita looked pale as a wraith in the milky morning light. In contrast, Firestorm’s blue scales were vibrant. His delight at his rider’s continued bravery reflected in his proud stance and sparkling eyes. He was almost unrecognisable from the washed-out dragon they had first met a week before, when Nolita was too scared to go near him.

  Elian indicated for Kira to take the lead on Fang. As they launched, accelerating into the take-off with an explosion of speed, Kira caught sight of several lions scattering from their flight path. This might be their normal hunting territory, but Kira suspected the orb was more likely to be the reason for their presence. The dragons were a powerful deterrent, but a group of large predators in full blood-frenzy could prove dangerous. The sooner they got rid of the orb, the better.

  The familiar sight of the swirling grey vortex ahead of them caused Kira to hold her breath. These gateways that Aurora formed were very useful, but most unpleasant to enter. In that final instant before crossing the threshold, Kira wished that she did not have to enter first. She knew the order they had decided upon was logical, but that did not make it any easier. Aurora had to be last because the gateway would collapse behind her the instant she entered. Nolita had only ever been through the gateways whilst riding with Elian on Aurora until now. It would not be fair to ask her and Firestorm to lead the way. Nolita was not up to that yet.

  They entered, plunging into nothingness. The strange twisting wrench no longer troubled her, but Kira hated the sensation that followed. It felt as though she was submerged in a liquid, floating in grey nothingness. The feeling always made her think of death. Was this what it would be like after she breathed her last? She hoped not. She could not think of anything worse.

  The second wrench on emergence into the other world was disorienting, but she was happy to be in clear air again. It was dark and cold here. Kira looked around. The others had emerged behind her. She could not see them, but the powerful wingbeats of Firestorm and Aurora were distinctly audible.

  ‘Where are we, Fang?’ she asked silently.

  ‘We’re not far from where we emerged last time,’ he replied. ‘The human battle-lines are almost directly beneath us. Aurora is going to lead us back to the woods where we hid before.’

  Bursts of light to their right suddenly lit up the countryside with a rapid sequence of spectacular flashes. Thumping cracks followed quickly, the sounds splitting the air in a way that seemed to tear at the very fabric of reality. Kira’s stomach felt as if it were in her throat as her eyes automatically flicked from one eruption of fire to the next.

  The noise of the explosions caused details of previous visits to zip through her mind in a rapid sequence of images: the strange flying machines that had attacked them, the brave airman who had flown to their aid and the terrible aerial conflict that had followed. Would they see the man again? It seemed unlikely. Even if he were nearby, the darkness would cloak him.

  The dragons were flying low enough to pick out some details during the brief moments of illumination. The trenches were distinctly visible: long lines gouged deep into the earth, a mesmerising pattern of wounds. There were people down there – many thousands of people. How could they do this day after day? How long had they been fighting? Kira could find no sense in it.

  Aurora took the lead and veered off to the west, away from the seemingly endless trenches. Elian’s dragon was right. The woods were a good place to hide.

  ‘How long until sunrise, Fang?’

  ‘About an hour and a half,’ the dragon replied. ‘Aurora’s senses are finely attuned to the moment of dawn.’

  ‘Not long, then. Good,’ Kira said. Although Aurora’s ability to travel to this world was useful, the elapsed time between worlds did not match in any measurable way, so there was no way of knowing how long they would have to spend here. Gateways could only be formed at dawn in either world. Aurora could control when she arrived in Areth, but she could not tell what time of day or night it would be until she emerged through the gateway into this other world. The less time we spend here, the better, Kira thought.

  ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about tonight,’ she continued. ‘Stay alert, Fang. My hunter’s instinct is prickling.’

  The dragon did not respond verbally to her warning, but she could feel his increased concentration. He was reaching out with his senses. Despite the concealing blanket of the dark night sky, she also felt him camouflage. It was disconcerting when he effectively disappeared from beneath her, especially at night.

  As they moved further from the lines of fighting, so the constant noise of battle reduced to a distant rumble. The dragons slowly descended, dropping lower and lower until Kira found she could make out certain shapes on the ground. It was a dark night, but her eyes had adjusted to the low light and she could see farmhouses, trees and the line of a river. The sound of a dog barking was just audible above the wind-rush. Kira smiled. There was no telling what had disturbed the dog but, if it was reacting to their presence, she did not think the animal would be so brave if it were to meet the dragons.

  They landed next to the woods and as soon as the riders had dismounted, the dragons moved between the trees towards the little clearing where they had camped during their previous visit. Leaves were piling up beneath the tangled branches and the rich earthy smell of the autumn mulch filled the air. Looking back, she saw a faint edge of frost tinging the grass in the field where they had touched down.

  Kira had barely taken a couple of paces before she noticed. She removed a glove, held her hand in front of her mouth and breathed over it. She was breathing smoke! Her breath felt warm. Why was she breathing smoke? Was this a side effect of being a dragonrider? Momentary panic set her heart racing and she looked around at the others to see if either of them had noticed. They were breathing out smoke as well. Elian had a look of wonder on his face as he experimented just as she had. Nolita, though, did not look in the slightest bit perturbed.

  Should I tell her? Kira wondered. She doesn’t appear to have noticed.

  As if she had somehow heard Kira’s thoughts, Nolita turned to look first at her and then at Elian.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked softly. ‘You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘My breath!’ Elian whispered. ‘It’s smoking.’

  To Kira’s surprise, Nolita began to chuckle, more smoke puffing from between her lips.

  ‘Are you telling me you’ve never seen your breath before?’ Nolita laughed, struggling to keep her voice down. ‘Don’t you have winter in Racafi? Doesn’t it get cold enough for you to see your breath?’

  ‘We have different seasons, but it never gets this cold,’ Kira replied. ‘Is this normal, then?’

  ‘Perfectly normal,’ Nolita said, making a face and deliberately breathing out through her nose. The smoke-like vapour coiled lazily from her nostrils. ‘What do you think? Could I be an honorary dragon?’

  For Nolita to make such a joke was both extraordinary and unexpectedly funny. Kira began to snigger and Elian was quick to join her. They turned together and began to follow the dragons through the trees, all the while asking questions about Nolita’s experience of winter in Cemaria.

  There was something satisfying about scrunching through the thick layer of leaves. It was all but impossible to move silently, so Kira didn’t try. Instead she deliberately kicked through the piles, the sensation bringing a strange sense of exuberance. It was not long until dawn. Their first success seemed close and it felt good.

  They had reached the edge of the clearing where the dragons were already settling down to w
ait when something set the hairs prickling at the back of Kira’s neck again. She stopped suddenly and tipped her head slightly to listen.

  ‘What is it, Kira?’ Elian’s voice was suddenly empty of humour.

  ‘Shh! Stand still – both of you. Listen!’

  Nothing. The distant rumble of war was constant, but aside from that disconcerting backdrop of sound the night was still. After a long pause, Kira shook her head and grinned.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘That snake must have messed with my instincts. I keep getting the feeling something bad is about to happen. Did you see those lions when we left? Do you think they were being drawn to the orb?’

  Elian shrugged and Nolita paled still further.

  ‘If the orb’s influence is that strong, maybe we should prepare for trouble,’ Kira continued. ‘With all the blood being spilled in the trenches, I doubt it will attract much interest, but there’s no harm in being careful.’

  ‘I can’t argue with that,’ Elian replied, his expression thoughtful. ‘What do you suggest?’

  ‘Let’s get the dragons to form a circle around us as they did last night. We’ll mount up a little earlier than normal and get into position to leave as soon as Aurora can form a gateway.’

  ‘Sounds sensible.’

  The dragons agreed. Once inside the protective circle formed by their scaly flanks, Kira began to relax. The three riders huddled together for warmth, but it made little difference. Their layers of protective clothing masked any benefits and the cold slowly seeped into their limbs. Before long they were all walking around in the circular hollow, stamping their feet and waving their arms to stimulate blood flow.

  Time dragged, every minute stretching out into an age as dawn stubbornly refused to break. Kira began to think the night would never end. Looking at the others, she could see they were having similar thoughts. It was the sound of the first dog barking that brought her to an abrupt standstill. Elian cocked his head for a moment and then continued his efforts to warm himself as soon as he had identified the sound.

  ‘What’s the matter, Kira?’ he asked. ‘It’s just a dog.’

  Kira’s nerves were tingling all down her back. Was this it? Did the dog’s barking herald the danger she had sensed since they first landed? A second dog added its bark to the first. That was enough. Kira turned to the others.

  ‘Mount up!’ she ordered abruptly.

  ‘What?’ Elian exclaimed. ‘Don’t be silly, Kira. What threat are a couple of dogs?’

  ‘We’re being hunted. We need to get out of here now.’

  Her tone held such authority that there were no further questions. Elian knew better than to challenge her when she spoke with that voice, and Nolita was always happier when given directions. The three riders scrambled up the sides of their dragons.

  ‘The dogs are coming closer, Kira,’ Fang warned. ‘And there are lots of them,’ he added. He sounded surprised and Kira could not blame him. Dragons were used to being respected and feared by all members of the animal kingdom, with a few very unusual exceptions. More and more dogs were adding their voices to the pack. Their frenzied barking held no respect for anything. They were closing fast.

  ‘We need to get into the open,’ Kira called. ‘We should get into the air and fly until the sun comes up. There’s no space for the dragons to take off here, so let’s get back to the field where we landed.’

  ‘No arguments here,’ Elian called back.

  The dragons had to go carefully. Moving through the trees on their own was one thing, but they did not want their riders to be swept from their saddles by low branches.

  They had barely entered the trees when the first of the dogs came running towards them, attacking in a ferocious, mindless pack of slavering, snarling teeth and fur. They were all shapes and sizes, from great lumbering canine brutes right down through the scale to animals barely bigger than rats that yapped and snarled around the legs of their bigger cousins. Had the dragons been in the open, the dogs would have posed little threat. Dragon scales were impervious to the teeth and nails of the canine attackers. Hampered by the trees, however, the riders were in danger. There was little the dragons could do but try to ignore the dogs and push forwards towards the open fields nearby.

  Although some dogs leaped at Kira, snapping at her legs with vicious teeth and madness in their eyes, the majority of the pack focused their attention on Firestorm and Nolita. The day dragon all but disappeared as the dogs swept around him. Kira could see that Nolita had drawn her legs right up and was now kneeling on the saddle, precariously balanced and quite understandably terrified.

  It must be the orb, Kira thought. Its influence here seems to be magnified. It’s driving the poor creatures insane.

  ‘Hang on, Kira,’ Fang warned. ‘And close your eyes. Firestorm is about to warm things up.’

  ‘What’s he going to do?’ she asked aloud.

  Fang did not have time to answer before she found out. The brave blue dragon lifted his head, cracking the branches above with ease before filling the air ahead of him with a great burst of roaring fire that consumed everything in its path. Firestorm barely paused before pushing forwards into the smouldering passage he had blasted through the trees. Nolita ducked her head down between her arms and clamped her eyes tight shut.

  ‘Great gods!’ Kira breathed. She had been slow to close her eyes and a glaring after-image of Firestorm’s fiery breath burned yellow on her retinas. ‘Everyone within about three leagues will have seen that. Quick, Fang! Follow Firestorm. We have to get out of here, now!’

  Chapter Four

  A Painful Awakening

  Everything hurt. Pell’s mind recoiled from the sensation, shrinking inwards in an effort to ward off the pain. It felt as though bones were broken in every area of his body. He wondered if he should try to move. Even breathing sent sharp spikes through his chest.

  Bracing himself mentally, he tried to move his arm. Red agony exploded through the tensed muscles and he groaned, the noise triggering yet more pain. It was excruciating, but despite his foolishness he was alive. Pain could be overcome. Injuries would heal. However, time was pressing. The Oracle needed him to act quickly.

  He opened his eyes. There was a ceiling above him. It looked rough and unfinished, but sound. He was in a bed. How had he come to be in a bed? The last thing he remembered was the impact of Shadow’s talons.

  ‘You’re awake!’

  ‘Shadow?’ he croaked.

  ‘Mama! Mama, he’s awake!’

  The voice was that of a little girl. She sounded both excited and a little frightened.

  ‘Shush now, Saffi. Don’t disturb ’im. He needs to rest. Run along now.’ The woman’s voice was gentle and warm, but as soon as Pell saw her, he found her body language was at odds with her tone. The woman’s dark eyes were narrowed and her lips twisted with intense dislike. Her arms were tightly folded across her chest and her torso was half turned away in a stance that suggested defiance. She was stout and prim, with her hair tied in a tight bun at the back of her head.

  Pell caught sight of a little girl in a plain dress as she disappeared out through the door.

  ‘Did I do something wrong?’ he whispered.

  ‘I dunno,’ the woman responded immediately, her voice suddenly hard and uncaring. ‘Did you? We’ve seen your kind before. We know what you’re like.’

  ‘Your kind? What do you mean?’ he asked, his mind spinning.

  ‘Dark riders on your black dragons-troublemakers, the lot of yous,’ she said fiercely. Her eyebrows drew together in an angry frown. ‘Well you don’t frighten me. Your dragon dropped you on me doorstep. I saw you was hurt and I don’t turn away the needy, no matter who they be. But as soon as you can move, you’re leavin’. Understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ he replied softly.

  He was in no fit state for a discussion, but he resolved to find out why night dragonriders had such a bad reputation here. This was not the first time he had experienced such hostility. In some pla
ces it seemed that whenever trouble or misfortune struck, night dragons became the scapegoats.

  Pell thought Shadow was a beautiful dragon, but he knew that many considered her appearance frightening. Some even felt she looked evil. He and Shadow had met two season rotations ago. Since that time they had never caused anyone harm, yet on several occasions they had been accused of stealing livestock, or damaging property. It’s so unfair, he thought. People are so shallow. They never look for the good in others. I’ll bet her attitude would be different if Shadow was a day dragon.

  ‘You want food?’ the woman asked.

  ‘Yes, please,’ Pell answered. Anything to speed my recovery and get me away from you, he added silently.

  ‘Ain’t got much, but it’ll have to serve.’

  She left, closing the door firmly behind her. As soon as the door closed, Pell relaxed into the bed. He had not felt his body tense up, but the relief he felt as she left surprised him with its intensity.

  ‘You’ll be well soon,’ Shadow assured him. ‘Eat. Rest. Your body heals fast. We’ll be on our way before you know it.’

  ‘Thanks, Shadow. And thanks for catching me. I won’t ever be able to thank you enough for that.’

  Shadow didn’t respond, but he could feel her pleasure through their special bond. She would be sharing his pain, just as he shared in her delight. The bond was a curious thing. At times it felt tenuous, like a filament of wispy smoke, nebulous and faint. At other times, though – like now – it felt strong and solid, like an iron bridge between their minds across which thoughts and feelings flowed back and forth in a constant stream.

  Although they had only been together for two rotations, it was hard to remember what it had been like before they met. Pell had never been one to enjoy close friendships with his peers. He was too much like his father – strong, silent and solitary by nature. His mother was warmer, but with her husband out in the forest most of the time, she had been forced into the role of the disciplinarian. Three strong boys and a wilful girl had needed a firm hand to control. Pell’s two brothers were too competitive to be close, and he did not want to be seen as weak in their eyes for spending time with his sister. But now no one would ever think him weak, because of his close relationship with Shadow. Now he had her, he felt no need to become close to anyone else. She was everything to him, and together they would achieve more than his siblings would ever have dreamed possible.