The next morning, as frost covered the ground, Tide set off with Damara huddled on his back again. He plodded further into the woods, to the point at which she wondered if he had any specific destination at all. Grey clouds overhead began raining down on them, water pelting through the bare limbs of trees. Damara became thoroughly soaked- cape, dress and hair sopping wet as Tide slopped clumsily through the leaf litter.
The water just runs right off of him, Damara observed jealously, eyeing the dragon’s slick, scaled neck before her.
At last, the rain stopped and clouds parted to make a window for the sun. She breathed in deep, willing the sunrays to dry her. The entire forest became brightly lit. Shining drops of water gathered on the bark of trees and tips of leaves until they broke free, tapping the soggy ground.
My leg hurts, she complained inwardly.
Where are we going? How long will it take for us to get there?
Tottering, she looked up to see small birds perching low in the canopy above, flitting from twig to twig as if in eagerness to keep up. She admired their fiery autumn colors, taking note of a few that bore a bright blue mark on their throats.
Tide seemed to notice the birds too, eyes glancing upward.
“Oh, not now,” he moaned.
Even with Damara’s weight on his back, he picked up the pace, making it uncomfortably fast for her injured leg.
“What’s wrong?” she asked and Tide glanced back at her in surprise.
I have my voice back! she realized, but had little time to rejoice before the birds began shrilling overhead.
“I can’t light them,” he breathed, staring up at the screeching flock in exasperation.
“What?” Damara asked, then cried out, startled as the blue throated ones swooped down. They targeted Tide with their sharp little beaks. A couple of them flew straight into Damara’s face and she flinched, accidentally throwing herself off of Tide. She flailed right before she hit the ground, her leg jolting with sharp pain yet again.
“Are you alright?!” Tide gasped, turning to her as birds flocked around his head like a swarm of maddened bees.
“Yes,” she groaned, but saw that he was gone, charging forward with his head tucked down into his chest.
“Wait!” Damara called after him but he kept running, the persistent little flock flashing after him as they screeched raucously. She watched them go, knowing well that he was her only chance of getting help.
Damara hobbled in pursuit, all the while wondering why the little birds were attacking him.
At last, she stumbled across a lake where the pesky blue-throated birds flocked. She could see Tide slinking beneath the surface of the lake, looking up. The birds swooped just above the water, as if waiting for a chance to continue their assault.
Panting, Damara gave a breathy laugh, seeing the bubbles rise from Tide’s mouth. All the birds’ ruckus reminded her of how the crowds cheered at the end of a market play, shouting and whistling in approval.
But then, from the other side of the lake appeared-
Another dragon!
Damara’s heart kicked her ribcage like a colt, but then she recognized him as another of the Dragon Knight’s allies. Still, she stepped back cautiously as the marine green beast opened his jaws wide.
With a great breath, he unleashed a powerful blast of bright flames, engulfing the diving birds.
What?! Damara was entranced as the birds swooped into the flames, swirling about like leaves in a whirlwind. In a few seconds, the fire disappeared and the dragon closed his mouth in a smug smile. The flock, ashen grey but apparently unharmed, dispersed into the woods.
Whoa. Damara watched the birds go. How are they still alive?!
“Lynx!” Tide laughed, leaping out of the lake and flicking water from each foot. “Thanks.”
The dragon, Lynx, coiled back his head, smirking. “You non-firebreathers just can’t do without me,” he snorted. “But still you scorn the firesap.”
Damara’s smile faded, unnerved by Lynx’s cockiness. She hung back, staring straight back at him when his gaze fastened on her.
“Oh, so you’re the one bleeding.” He grinned, jagged white teeth unveiled by scaly green lips. “I could smell you a horizon away- thought you might be a wounded deer or something else delicious.”
A chill ran down Damara’s back. Chasm used to compare me to prey. She bared her teeth in a distasteful grimace as Tide introduced them to each other.
Lynx nodded boredly before turning to ask him, “How many times have the phoenixes attacked you now? Seven?”
Tide cocked his head as though taking a moment to count. “Four, I think.”
“Ha!” Lynx barked with sharp laughter. “Those amorous birds just can’t understand that you’re flameless. To think they’d cross a whole mountain range and half a kingdom- all for a little fire and close quarter intimacy.” The dragon let that last word unfurl from his tongue, still grinning jauntily.
What does that mean? Damara folded her arms. I don’t like this dragon at all.
“Shouldn’t we keep going?” she prompted Tide.
“Oh, we’re nearly there,” he answered cheerfully, nodding to a steep slope past the lake. “Just up there, actually. Here, I’ll take you.”
Damara scrambled back up on Tide’s wet back and Lynx laughed. He watched them teeter with a sharp, mocking stare. Even so, Damara held herself upright and sniffed indignantly, ignoring the pain in her leg.
I must look ridiculous, she grumbled to herself. As if I’ve never ridden a dragon before!
“You’d be better off riding a hatchling, friend,” Lynx said.
Damara shot him a glare.
Is that a path? She marveled at the cleared trail snaking to the top of the slope, the first evidence of man she’d seen since they entered this forest. Tide and Lynx cut straight up the hillside, ignoring the well-kempt path. It’s obviously not meant for dragons. They don’t even seem to notice it.
Eager to see what awaited them at the top, Damara sat up taller. As the ground leveled out before them in a grassy clearing, a stable house met her eyes. Beyond that was an orchard, and a little farther down was a hunting lodge. Her eyes widened at the sight and she slipped off Tide’s back, ignoring Lynx’s snicker of amusement as she faltered.
“There’s someone here you should be glad to see,” Tide spoke up beside her. “I’ll be right back.”
Damara watched him stride towards the house, leaving her with Lynx.
“Does the Dragon Knight live here?” she uttered, but the marine green dragon merely snorted in amusement.
As Lynx began following after Tide, she quickly shuffled along too. Passing the stable house, she caught the sound of a horse’s neigh inside. The orchard was mostly leafless, with a large wet garden at the foot of it. Her anticipation mounted as she prepared herself to come face to face with the Dragon Knight.
Who could he be? Will I recognize him somehow?
Lynx pulled to a halt in front of the charming forest home, just as Tide stuck his head in the doorway to say something.
Damara stood breathlessly still.
A shrill sounded inside the house and she stumbled back as a little redheaded child came darting out, charging straight for her.
“Faren!” Damara picked the young girl up and hugged her tight in a sudden wave of energy. “What happened to you?”
“Tide found me sick in the woods,” Faren chirped. “He brought me to Kara so I could get better!”
Tide rescued her, too? Damara marveled, looking up at the dragon who simpered in response. Just then, she forgot the embarrassment of riding him, awed by his good will.
We practically owe him our lives…
It hurt Damara’s mouth to smile so much as she hugged Faren again, unspeakably grateful. I thought she was gone forever, but she’s alive! Thank God, Faren’s alive!
A middle aged woman appeared in the doorway, smoothing her unshapely dress over her heavyset body. “Hello,” she greeted Damara with a well-wor
n smile. “I’m Kara. Can I get you anything to eat? Some stew, perhaps?”
Damara was at a loss for words, taken aback by the woman’s sudden, unquestionable welcoming.
“Say yes, Damara,” Faren whispered in her ear as Kara waited for an answer, hands on hips with eyebrows raised.
“Oh, um…yes please,” Damara stammered, releasing Faren. “That would be very nice, thank you.”
The woman nodded, disappearing in the house again without another word.
“You’re hurt!” Faren cried, tugging on the hem of Damara’s dress and pointing at the wound on her leg.
“I’m fine,” she tried to reassure the child, but Kara came to see and demanded that she come inside.
“Damara, I have to go talk to someone,” Tide told her, opening his wings. “But I promise we’ll be seeing each other again in good time.”
Damara glanced at Faren and then back at Tide. “Alright,” she said and Tide bade her farewell, taking to the air. “Thank you!” she called after him and watched him disappear. Unable to object as the large woman bustled her inside, Damara found herself in a chair.
Kara knelt, tending to the gash on her leg. Faren watched with concern.
“Dear Lord,” Kara muttered. “How did you get such a nasty wound?”
“An arrow grazed me,” Damara answered quietly, trying not to wince as the woman prodded the injury.
Creases formed on Kara’s aged brow as she raised her eyebrows, but she said nothing. Long brown hair, invaded by silver strands, slipped from the bun on the back of her head. She tucked the locks behind her ears.
“It’s infected,” the woman said, shaking her head. “No, this simply won’t do. Did you even try to keep it clean?”
Damara didn’t answer, gritting her teeth in pain. Faren gawked at the wound until Kara sent her to fetch clean bandages and a bowl of water.
At last, with her leg freshly bandaged, Damara was given a small loaf of bread and a bowl of stew. Faren hung on the table, gazing at her with large, watchful eyes as Damara ravenously dipped into the food.
“There’s a griffin in the stables that thinks he’s a horse,” Faren whispered.
“Oh?” Damara pretended to believe her, biting into her bread.
“And there’s a talking wyvern that sits on my shoulder,” Faren said, delighted.
Damara laughed with her mouth full. That sounds like something I’d have said when I was younger.
“I don’t see the wyvern,” she jabbed playfully. “Is it an invisible one?”
Faren stared at her, wide eyed. “Is it?” she hushed in amazement, swiveling her gaze around the room.
“I don’t know,” Damara said mischievously. “Perhaps it bathed in a pool that turned it invisible.”
Perplexed, Faren blinked twice. “Really?”
What am I doing? Damara suddenly realized, I shouldn’t encourage her fantasies. She might wander off again.
She looked to Kara, who was busying herself with stowing a variety of vegetables into a sack. “Do you live alone here, Kara?” she asked.
Kara looked up with a sad smile. “Sometimes it seems that way. My brother is often gone and my parents passed away quite some time ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Damara murmured.
“How did they die?” Faren asked.
Damara gritted her teeth, hoping Kara wouldn’t be offended by the child’s curious question.
“My mother died when my brother and I were still very young,” the woman replied, unfazed. “Naturally, since I’m the older sister, I took on the role of being the woman of the house.” She smiled, as though proud. “Our father was a game warden, skilled in many ways. Even the king was able to appreciate my father’s talents and they went on a fair number of hunting expeditions together.”
“So you met the king, too?” Damara was impressed.
“Oh, yes. And my brother became good friends with the king’s son, Chadwick. That is,” Kara’s face darkened, “until Chadwick took the throne and banished my brother over a misunderstanding.”
Is that why her brother isn’t here? Damara wondered. Because he was banished? She doubted King Chadwick would even know if Kara’s brother were still around, given all that was going on.
“My very own donkey is here!” Faren boasted. “And Kara once took care of the Princess’ horse for a whole year!”
“Actually, three years,” Kara corrected her. Tying up a bag full of garden goods, she shook her head, saying, “That horse was jumpier than a pond’s worth of frogs…far too skittish for her own good.”
Why did she have to take care of the Princess’ horse? Damara wondered. Couldn’t the castle stables hold it? She pushed the empty bowl away from her, her stomach well satisfied.
“Thank you for the food,” she murmured. “It’s the first real meal I’ve had since…” She trailed off, biting her lip as she realized just how long it had been.
“Don’t mention it,” Kara replied, facing her. “So tell me, where did you come from?”
Damara nervously twisted the ivory ring around her finger. “Rookton,” she answered. The town’s name sounded almost foreign to her, after such a long time.
“Rookton? That’s rather close to the castle.” Kara crossed her thick arms, thinking. “How did you get caught up with Chasm, then?”
Thrown by the bold question, Damara’s mind raced. Do I tell her the truth? Do I lie? Do I answer at all?
“I-” she hesitated, “I was tricked.”
“Tricked. Hmm.” Kara pursed her lips, but pressed for nothing more. Absentmindedly, she looked over all the bags of food lined up against the wall. “That should last them for a while…” she muttered quietly to herself.
‘Them’? Damara wondered. A sound came from outside and she turned her head to it, as did Kara and Faren.
“Ah, they’re here,” Kara told Damara, smiling as she walked towards the doorway. “Come. There’s someone you should meet.”
Damara followed her outside as quickly as she could limp. Faren sped past as giddy as a frolicking foal. The forest light was dwindling, dimmed by the thick overcast of grey.
Immediately, Damara recognized the brown and pink female dragon that landed on the grass not far from the house. Damara’s heart thrummed against her chest in uncontainable excitement as she saw a fully armored man dismount from the winged reptile’s back.
The Dragon Knight!
Faren ran up to him, bouncing up and down until he took something from his shoulder and placed it with care into the child’s outstretched hands. Faren skipped away to the garden, twirling about.
“Brother,” Kara called to the mysterious man, grabbing Damara’s trembling hand and pulling her forward. “Look who’s here!”
The Dragon Knight turned to them, striding forth and Damara drew in her breath, staring as he lifted the helmet from his head.
“Hello, Damara,” the man greeted, stopping right in front of her. His eyes were engaging, his hair dark brown, his body well-built, though visibly weary.
Despite the fatigue that seemingly dogged his every move, he gave her an earnest smile and said, “I am Tyrone.”
Chapter 20