Soar

Chapter 14

Shrugging, he broke into a run and followed Hatesa back down the road. Runedan and I walked after them.

"They are children," he said, his voice low.

I pressed against his side, finally feeling steady and solid again. "They are my age." My shoulder settled into the groove abandoned by the collar.

"Yet they are treated as soldiers."

We shuffled down the road for a while before I asked, "How are you, Runedan?"

"Much is different. This is not the home I had envisioned."

"Did something happen? What did those dragons do?"

His sides expanded for a large sigh. "They did nothing except examine me. They questioned me and they lectured me. I imagine I was found wanting."

Pulling at my lip with my teeth, I clasped my hands behind my back. "Yesterday the dragons said your age accounted for your size. Are you young, Runedan?"

He nodded slowly. "Relatively. Edanyx, the...queen's dragon, I suppose, is more than twice my age."

"Does that mean you might grow more?"

My question made him pause. He swung his neck around to stare at me in silence for a long moment. "It is unlikely, considering my difficult adolescence, which, as it happens, will not be accepted as an excuse for my shameful appearance." His voice hardened. "This is all the strength and stature I will ever have. I will never have horns."

"Runedan." I stepped around so I could meet his eyes. "That is not what I meant. I only wanted to know if I should expect you to get any bigger. I prefer you the way you are, actually. It does not make you less of a dragon, whatever they think." He had only been gone one night, but something had changed. I could not guess at what abuse he had suffered from his own kind. All that was clear was that they had not welcomed him gladly.

Runedan would say no more. Eventually we continued down the road, both of us lost to our thoughts. We had been cautious in our hopes of what we might find across the river, but even our careful wishing had not prepared us for this kind of reception.

Maybe we just needed more time.

We found a crowd of riders outside the stables. Hatesa was hugging a man with gray hair while Tryven tried to ask him a question. The man laughed and set Hatesa down.

Some of the riders had noticed Runedan. As we approached, more and more looked up. Runedan hesitated. Tryven finally saw us and pointed us out to the gray-haired man, who had draped one arm around Hatesa's shoulder. I made my way over.

"This is Azadryn," Tryven was saying.

The man had been studying Runedan. He had just opened his mouth to say something when he took a good look at me. The color drained from his face.

"Grandfather?" Hatesa asked. She put a hand on his chest and struggled against the sudden weight of the arm across her shoulders.

"Are you well?" Tryven asked. "Do you need a physician?"

The man shook his head, stammering and muttering too quietly for me to hear. He ran a hand over his eyes and spoke more loudly. "N-no. It has passed." He pulled away from Hatesa, putting a shaking hand on her shoulder.

"What is wrong?" Hatesa demanded.

"Nothing," he said slowly, glancing down at her. "Just a pain. It has passed," he repeated. Then he raised his eyes to mine and tried to smile. "Where do you come from...Azadryn?"