A genuine grin breaks out across my face, and I cry out with joy, pumping one of my fists in the air.
"Yeah!" I scream, and Kinjal's roar accompanies it.
The sound echoes throughout the mountains, and the other Riders call out in answer. My cheeks begin to hurt from the wideness of my smile, but could care less; this is the greatest gift I could possibly receive. Kinjal bursts forward with new found speed, pushing us much farther ahead of the Balrogs, who now seem to be struggling to keep up.
The Riders alter their own course to meet Kinjal and I. They fly at an angle to meet us, careful to avoid flying too near to the Balrogs that tail Kinjal and I.
As they grow closer, I recognize many familiar faces from our village. Every one of them looks bone tired, but still their voices ring out in fierce battle cries. It disappoints me that I do not see Rilin or Father among them, but all the same I am most grateful for our unlikely meeting; it could not have come at a more opportune time.
A middle-aged man, who I remember as the one-eyed butcher of our small village, flies up first alongside Kinjal, and shouts across to me.
"There are seven of us, Duhului Drakai. Have you found any other Riders?" he asks hopefully, raising his voice to be heard above the wind and calls of the dragons that now fly surrounding us.
I shake my head no. "None are with me, but two remain back where we have taken refuge." I yell in response.
"The King and his three sons are dead; we saw them slaughtered on the first night of this madness. What are your orders?"
The news comes as a great shock. They may not have been the best rulers, but they were still respected. It is saddening to know they have met their end, but even more terrifying to realize that it makes me next in command.
Kinjal's words from the night our Kingdom was destroyed float into my ears as a memory. "They need a leader."
I have to be that leader.
"Follow Kinjal and me! We are going to run the Balrogs headlong into the orcs as a distraction and kill them with dragon fire!" I call clearly, enunciating every word so the thin, one-eyed man hears me correctly.
I watch him nod in acknowledgment, and then both he and his dragon peel off to the side to fall back with the others.
"Lead them down; I can see the orcs just down the valley of this mountain." I point out to Kinjal, who had been to preoccupied with avoiding crashing the two of us to properly look around.
"We will win this for sure now." Kinjal growls, and I cannot help but agree with her.
***
A short little thing, more tomorrow
***