‘The more there is to lose, the more doors and windows by which fear creeps in. Duty doesn’t outweigh loss. You would do well to consider that, Donavyn.’
‘You’ll get no argument from me on that, Keg.’
My dragon rumbled as if he wasn’t sure he agreed, but he didn’t speak further, and I was soon distracted by the approach of Furyknights, walking with me to query orders before I reached my meeting. So, it wasn’t until hours later I turned the conversation back over in my mind and wondered what he’d been poking me to think about.
The more there is to lose, the more fear creeps in. Duty doesn’t outweigh loss.
I agreed. Wholeheartedly. And having found our mates, and clinging to those precious bonds madeeveryrisk more terrifying. I’d never seen duty as a balance for grief. Difficult decisions to place men and dragons at risk were difficult for precisely that reason: We feared the loss of them personally.
Why did he feel like he had to press that on me?
I intended to ask him next time we had a chance to be alone.
33. Shroud
~ BREN ~
The late afternoon sun dappled Akhane’s wings where she stood under the trees, her long neck turned back to look at herself. Ronen stood next to me, watching her grimly.
“The grays struggle sometimes, because a dragons’ usual attitude is tomakethemselves visible—intimidation is their greatest weapon. Seeing a phalanx of furies bear down on you in the night, flames roaring, sends most soldiers fleeing. But the grays, and some of the blues and golds… we want them to learn to blend as much as they can. The light helps, of course,” he added with a shrug. “When it gets darker, she’d seem much less visible. But we can’t always be moving at night. We have to work on shrouding.”
I nodded. I knew this was only Akhane’s beginning. First, Ronen had introduced me to a senior gray who’d worked for years on shrouding. By controlling the light under his scales, the male could lay down in the long grass and appear to beno more than a rise in the land, or slip between trees and virtually disappear. But he was ancient. Akhane hadn’t worked on camouflaging before.
“How do I help her?” I asked him.
“Ask her to attempt to match the heat under her scales with the level of light through the leaves,” he said quietly. “Rather than the color.”
Of course, Akhane heard him without my intervention, but it was polite among the Furyknights that we didn’t address another rider’s dragon directly, except in an emergency.
Akhane blew out a breath and fluttered her wings slightly—then I saw it. A glimmer. The light under her scales, that pulsing heat that looked like the embers of a fire flickered at just the right level and for a few seconds, her form seemed to sink into the speckled light.
“Well done, Akhane!” I called, clapping.
Ronen nodded, smiling.
‘It is difficult to hold, Little Flame,’Akhane sighed into my mind as the light under her scales rose and she was once again clearly a dragon under the trees.‘As if it slips from my grasp.’
‘Ronen said it’s just practice. Don’t worry. You’re doing well!’
We spent another hour there, Ronen instructing Akhane to rise and lower the level of heat showing between her scales. “Just to get her used to the practice. Over time it will become second nature. But for now, she needs to watch herself and measure her surroundings.”
Then Voski joined us, and he had me mount—with Akhane unmoving, crouched under the massive trees, so I could learn how to position myself against her to interfere as little as possible in her appearance.
“Stealth is as much about movement and sound as how much heat Akhane shows under her scales,” he called up to me. “Thinkabout how your vision works—a shadow moving catches your attention from the corner of your eye. Light flickering will draw an eye, even miles away at night. Akhane needs to be able and willing to douse her flame entirely if it serves your purpose.”
Akhane tensed, and I frowned. “Douse her flame?”
“The light—that’s the heat her body holds to ignite her fire and fight infection in her body. Grays in particular, but all dragons, have the capacity to douse that fire—she’d show no light at all under her scales. But just like any other fire, it takes time and fuel to coax it back to life. Dragons instinctively avoid dousing the flame, because fire is their primary protection for both themselves, and you. We have to teach the stealth dragons to stifle that instinct.”
I reached for Akhane through the bond—I could feel her reluctance.‘Are you willing to try?’
It took her a moment to respond, which was unusual, and when she did, she sighed.‘We are safe here. I’ll try.’
While Akhane fought her body, attempting to douse her flame, Voski circled us, assessing my posture and position on her back, helping me flatten effectively on her spine so that I appeared to be a part of her back, rather than sticking out between her wings.
“A dragon without a rider is considered less of a threat in most kingdoms,” he said, still circling Akhane and watching as the light under her scales retreated. “The other nations have a lot more feral dragons than we do. In arealemergency, if you have to fly over enemy troops, drop your harness, lay along her spine, between her wings where you’re less likely to be seen from below, holding onto her spikes for security—those on the ground may accept that she’s merely a feral dragon, passing by, especially in low light.”
I winced at the memory of my very first flight—in precisely that position—and what I knew of landing without a harness.But I nodded and practiced leaning forward, resting my head against her withers and rounding my shoulders, letting my legs draw up between her wings so I could appear as part of the round of her spine. But I was so busy working to keep my balance as I moved without knees hooked over her, I didn’t see—
