You can talk to me…quietly. Avoid the rat’s mocking.
Right, Soren thought.
“It’s time!” the Sister shouted. “Mount your dragon. They know where to go.”
Cion grabbed Soren’s wrist before she could move, whispering in her ear, “Stick with me once we get there, alright? You’ll be safer that way.”
She pulled away, and Soren could only nod before she rushed off to meet her dragon. Slowly, Soren turned to face Thessilnn again, walking towards her and staring at the ladder for a split second before crawling up it. The muscles in her arms and legs burned by the time she made it to the saddle, and her breath came in quick gasps, fiery hot in her chest.
Get ready.
That was all the warning she had before the dragon took off. In a blind panic, she grasped for something to grab, finding a tether at the front of the saddle. Air whooshed past her ears as Thessilnn flapped her wings. To her right, she thought she might have heard Elaana scream, but she didn’t dare turn her head to look.
A few flaps later, they were soaring, the mountains on either side of them. That was, until the dragon sailed higher into theclouds and the peaks disappeared. Soren clung to her as the icy mist hit her square in the face.
Relax. You know how to do this.
Squinting through the moisture of the clouds and the wind, Soren shot back,I do not. And it’s freezing up here.
Ah. There’s some personality—finally.
Soren sighed, coughing as she inhaled the air too quickly. Next to her, another dragon—Ilav’s—shot up further at a sharp angle. She thought she might have heard him shout, but it was quickly lost to the wind.
Is his dragon trying to get him killed?
A huffing chuckle.Olariu likes to test his riders.
He’s had others before?
Just two. He is very particular.
And you?
She paused, and Soren wondered if she had pushed too far, but the dragon simply replied,Once, yes. A long time ago.
Even in Soren’s mind, the dragon’s voice spoke of pain, so Soren didn’t push.
After a while, the flying began to feel less terrifying and more like riding a horse: uncomfortable but not completely foreign. A few times, she saw the other riders and their dragons through the clouds. By the time the sky had begun to turn pink with sunset, the cold remained but had turned less brutal.
They must be getting close.
Thessa.
Soren wasn’t sure what had compelled her to call the dragon that.
But as the dragon tipped downward, she simply said,Yes, child?
Have we arrived?
They descended further, close enough to the ground that Soren could see the light of fires dotting the camp and specksof people moving around. Her stomach turned with unease. She did not know exactly what to expect, but she could guess.
She was Misean.
A servant.
A woman.
You are untouchable now, Soren.
