Fate of Dragons

Chapter Six - Part I

Tesa could hardly believe that all of the riders and dragons could be ready to depart the very next day, but Malía had been serious. Every rider with an able dragon had been sorted into patrol groups and had been given instructions to be ready to leave in the morning. Tesa was assigned to Malía's group, along with Neela, Orema, Kiana, and Renna. Kiana and Renna would be passengers on Neela and Orema's dragons. Kiana's was one of the lost dragons.

Tesa felt underqualified to be included in such a group, being the newest rider in Areth besides Eriya, and untrained. Not only was Malía the head of all the dragon riders, Kiana had been her second in charge, and Orema and Neela were both seasoned riders.

"I want to keep you where I can see you," was all Malía had said to her when she reported to the group after assignments had been given. "I've heard a lot about you." Then she'd turned to speak with Renna.

"You'll continue your magic training with me, too," said Neela, sitting down next to Tesa in the great hall. "Have to follow the laws, you know."

Tesa hadn't even thought of her mage training since yesterday. If she had, she would have guessed that she'd be allowed to suspend her training until she returned from the mission. Apparently, that wouldn't be allowed, and she'd continue with it during the mission.

Although Arethia was well past midwinter, and they had been getting some dazzlingly sunny days, the day of their departure was not one of them. On this morning, clouds veiled the sky in a solid gray, and a wind drove flecks of snow into their skin that felt like pinpricks.

The dragons and riders gathered in the arena and handlers and attendants helped tie up saddlebags, lift heavy packs, and hand out hot mugs of tea to the riders who waited for their turn to take off.

Orrie wriggled in place as he watched the preparations.

Will we fly far? he asked, and Tesa could feel the thrill of excitement in his thoughts.

Malía said our patrol is going the farthest. To the southernmost city in Yennar Lei. It's also their capital city. Saldive.

Orrie thrummed. Saldive. Sounds nice. A note of comfort hugged the last thought, and Tesa sighed, wishing she could feel the same about their very first flight together out of Areth.

Instead, she still fumed about her friend's betrayal. Telling the mage guard about the door they'd found could have ruined any chance they might have had to save the dragons. Even though they were leaving now, she knew they could have gotten there sooner. If it weren't for the stupid law against bound magic, she wouldn't have had to sneak around to use the door. It was why the Karume were winning.

She scanned the arena. She knew Fenn was out there somewhere, helping riders prepare for their patrol, but she hadn't seen him yet. What would his mother think if she knew that he'd had a chance to rescue her dragon, and he'd turned it down? Tesa would bet that she wouldn't care about the ban on bound magic if she knew she could be reunited with her dragon. Of course, his dad was a mage, so maybe he wouldn't be too happy about it, but who was he to come between a woman and her dragon?

Tesa had become so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Eriya approaching with Gypsy until she was too close to avoid. Eriya pushed a canvas-wrapped bundle into Tesa's hands while Tesa was still trying to decide whether to tell her off or just tell her to go away.

"Fenn wanted me to give this to you," she said.

Tesa scowled at Fenn's name and reached for the cord that was tied around the bundle. Eriya put her hand on top of Tesa's.

"Not here. He said to open it when you get there. Come on, Gypsy, it's not time to play." Eriya turned to her small dragon, who had been nipping at Orrie's wingtips as he danced them just out of reach. As they walked away, she cast one last sad smile Tesa's way.

Tesa raised a hand in feeble farewell, some of her anger cooling. She began to regret leaving her friends on this note. Maybe she should go after her and tell her all was forgotten. Was it?

"All right, saddle up, we're first to go." Neela strode among their group and stopped near Tesa, who still clutched the bundle to her stomach. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Tesa said. "A going away gift, I guess. From Fenn."

"Aw, how sweet. Hard to stay mad at him, huh?"

Tesa frowned at her and stuffed the package in her pack, then climbed aboard Orrie's back. She surveyed the dragon dwell for what would be the last time for a great while. People lined the railings of the balconies outside the living quarters, ready to watch the dragons take off. The watch towers on the mountain ridge above were conspicuously empty of their usual dragon silhouettes.

Running footsteps crunched in the dirt behind her, and Tesa turned. Glenna was running toward their party with a folded piece of paper.

"Wait!" she cried.

Tesa sat back and crossed her arms. Not another attempt to win her sympathies. But unlike she expected, Glenna didn't run to Tesa. She ran past her and up to Malía at the front of the group. Glenna handed the paper to Malía, who read it and then nodded.

"Welcome aboard," Malía said, loud enough for them all to hear. "Tesa, she'll ride with you."

Tesa's mouth dropped open, but she promptly closed it. Better not to irritate Malía any more than she already was. She remained silent as Glenna climbed up behind her onto Orrie's back. Orrie purred encouragingly, for he liked Glenna, and Tesa could feel his confusion at her bitter feelings towards Glenna.

Tesa didn't have much time to wonder why Glenna had been added to their party, but she noted that other parties had gained passengers as well. A brief surge of hope overtook her. Maybe the king knew something they didn't, maybe he had good reason to send more of the riders who had lost their dragons. If they found the dragons, they'd need those riders, right?

Glenna took hold of the straps attached at the side of the saddle, and Tesa held hers. She held herself steady in the saddle as Orrie ambled behind Malía's dragon, Gira, to the center of the arena. Gira lifted her wings and launched into flight with one great leap, and Tesa's breath caught in her throat. Orrie, a relatively new flyer, knew better than to attempt such a grand lift off, or at least Tesa hoped so. She breathed in relief as Orrie allowed himself several deep, long flaps as he built up power and then lifted into the air.

Gira circled in the sky above the dragon dwell, waiting for the rest of the dragons to join. Orrie joined the circle, and then Neela's dragon, Aerix, and Orema's dragon, Delna, lifted off the ground.

All four dragons finally aloft, Gira let out a bugle and climbed higher, rising well above the mountain top. Then she locked her wings to her sides and glided in a straight line toward the great forests of Yennar Lei. Orrie followed.

Tesa watched as her favorite watchtower passed below her and said a silent goodbye to it.

Despite her frustration at the ruin of her own plans, it felt good to finally be flying, just as she had imagined, over the great forests of Yennar Lei. She settled into her saddle and set her eyes ahead, on the deep green treetops poking out of the gray mist below.

*** Hello, dear readers! Thanks for reading this far! This week's posting was a little shorter than I intended, because I had wanted to post all of Chapter 6. However, I encountered a revision snafu and it's going to take me some time to fix it up. It involves only part of the chapter actually being revised on the computer, and the rest in a notebook that was temporarily misplaced...found now! But, I wanted to get something up today, so here is the first scene of Chapter 6! I'm hoping to get the rest of the second scene typed in and melded together with what's in my computer, and have a second update this week. Thank you again for following along on this journey. 

~Nikki