Gunter and I eventually gather our wits and tromp over to the dragons, who have stopped breathing fire. I don’t know what made them stop – I am just relieved that it is over. True to Koree’s words, there are bones and skulls scattered on the ground, smoke and steam wafting off of them. How would he know this?
We each take two dragons and lead them back to the others. Echo is sitting up and holding her head, which is a good sign. Thann is in the same position, dazed and unmoving. Koree watches us, his eyes glassy green orbs. He slowly nods his head in approval. Reese has shown up, leaning against his dragon with his arms crossed, watching us with cold, dark eyes. I ignore him with the exception of sending a nasty look his way every now and then.
“I imagine the bones will still be pretty hot,” Gunter tells me. We look around for something to handle them, to keep our hands from burning. We find our old tattered cloaks, finish shredding them into rags, and head over to the bones. It is eerie thinking about what we are getting ready to do.
“Let’s get on with this. I want out of here,” I tell Gunter, sending a deathly glare in Reese’s direction.
He nods his head. “Me, too. I’ve had about enough of this snock to last a life time.”
We hike over to the site of the massacre, steam and smoke still billowing up from the remnants of life…ash and smoke whispering to us…as if telling us to leave them alone. Hesitantly, red rags in our hands, Gunter and I approach the bones, neither of us making a move to actually touch them. The thought of what we are doing suddenly makes me ill. Human bones…Soot’s bones. What is left of Soot…being thrown in a stream. “Maybe we should say a few words.” I offer, bile creeping into my mouth from my throat. A different kind of burning.
“Okay…good idea.” Gunter pauses, thinking. Then he speaks, his voice solemn but eloquent. “Soot was a good person. We didn’t know her long but she was nice. She was a Brown Cloaker who was making a better life for herself…I respect that. I respected her.”
I wait a second, thinking about her…about the real Soot – how I barely even knew her. “She was funny and kind,” I add. “And a Light Skin who didn’t deserve this…I….”
Words trap in my throat as I turn to Gunter.
He must sense my hesitation, and I will always be grateful for what he does next. Without fanfare, he grabs a skull with one of the rags, wraps it in another red rag stained with blood, runs over to the stream, and tosses it in. The rag encased skull floats down the stream, bobbing up and down slowly like a last attempt at taking a breath. I wonder whose skull it is…could it be Soot’s?
Gunter saunters back toward me, but he doesn’t speak. For a minute I wonder if he is angry, but then I realize it is more a look of determination on his face. Determination…I could use some of that. I shake my head and charge over to the scattered, charred bones. I wrap a long bone, perhaps a leg bone, in my rag, and as heat penetrates through the rag, almost burning my hands, I drag the heavy bone to the stream and toss it into the swirling water, watching with fascination as it floats down the stream, playing follow the leader with the bobbing skull.
We work, back and forth like this until there are no more bones. Gunter and I stop, almost at once, staring straight ahead at the blackened clearing…boneless and bloodless. “Let’s get out of here,” I tell Gunter, wanting to leave more than bones and fire behind me.
“Righto,” he answers, flashing me a grin. I marvel at his eyes…how they almost disappear every time he smiles. We take off toward the others, discussing the logistics of getting all of us to Harcourt.
“Echo is doing the best,” I tell Gunter. “Koree and Thann are in rough shape.”
“You’re telling me the person with a hole in her head is better than those two mountains?”
“Mountains?” I have no idea what he is talking about.
“Yeah, those guys are huge. How are we even going to get them on a dragon?”
“Oh…mountains. I get it.” I think for a minute. “I will ride with one, you with the other,” I inform him methodically as we approach the small group. “We can see if Echo can ride on her own. If not, then Reese will just have to help her.”
Gunter nods, but when I look at Koree and Thann, at how big they really are, especially Thann, doubt creeps in. I give Gunter a once over, wondering if he can even hold one of the bigger boys on a dragon. One of the “mountains”. And can I?
I turn to Koree, “How long before we get there?”
“Bout an hour,” he mumbles. His eyes are still dilated, and his speech is more slurred than before. Still, I trust him.
“Okay…” I bite my lower lip, thinking.
“We can do this,” Gunter offers. An hour is no time at all.”
“Yes…” I let out a long wind of breath. “Okay, let’s just get on with it.” Together we lift Thann up on Pebble, straining under his weight. When we finally get him situated, he wobbles in the saddle, so while Gunter holds him I go on a search for more rope. I find some on one of the other Crimsons, cut four equal strands, and we tie him to the saddle, pinning his legs to the stirrups. He sits obediently, staring blankly into space.
Koree is easier. We lift him onto the Metallic, and he is able to help us a little, to hold on and balance by himself. Still, we tie his legs just to be careful. When we finish, I fondle the dagger, thinking of Entho. Did he know something that I didn’t?
I think of getting my invitation to Dragon Academy, how I wanted to stay with him. Would I really be imprisoned for wanting to be a healer, or is that something he said because he knew about the Purity Law? Was he just trying to keep me safe again? I blink my eyes several times. It is too much to think about right now. With reverence, I place the dagger back in my bag, as if it were a holy object, and I tie the cords of my bag tightly.
Echo is already standing by her dragon. “You baggers can just give me a leg up and I’ll be fine.”
“My pleasure,” Gunter answers as he holds his hands low for her. She steps up easily onto the dragon, and I hand her the reins.
“If you aren’t okay to do this, we can have you ride with Reese,” I tell her.
She glances over at Reese, squinting her eyes at him. “No, I’m fine,” she says with resolve. Reese, perched on his dragon by now just scowls.
I catch sight of Reese’s red cloak. “You should change into a tunic and pants, like us…in case we meet another Destroyer or something.” I doubt if he will follow my instructions and am surprised when he obediently dismounts his dragon, tromps over to Thann’s bag, gets out new clothing, and jogs behind a charred bush. A few minutes later he strolls back in his new clothes, rolls up the legs of his pants, and mounts his Crimson again.
Gunter and I tie the other three rider-less dragons to Pebble, Gunter’s Crimson, and Echo’s Metallic. I climb onto Pebble behind Thann, and Gunter jumps up behind Koree. We lead our motley crew out onto the dusty dirt road, feeling the steady plod of the dragon’s feet, a sleepy rhythm of hope. One hour. That is all we need. One hour.
The sun is setting, casting a mist of grey on the countryside, and it is beginning to get cool. I shiver, with my arms around Thann, holding him up while I steer the dragon. My arms begin to tremble from exhaustion, as well, but I keep holding on. Gunter and Koree are beside me with Echo and Reese following. I don’t trust Reese to tend to Echo, so I keep looking back to check on her. She is doing fine, but I notice that blood is starting to leak out of the side of her bandage again.
We continue to trudge along, and I am beginning to relax, to think we just might make it. We travel along in silence, each step becoming a painful tug on my shoulders and arms as I clutch the reins as well as hold Thann tightly. My eyes are heavy, and I fight to keep them open, to stay awake. I think of my soft bed at home, of the healing books I could be reading right now. And for the first time all day, my stomach rumbles in hunger. When was the last time I ate? It had to be this morning before I left.
I turn to see if anyone brought any food; maybe Koree will know. His head is bouncing o
ff his chest, almost like he is asleep, although his eyes are open, so he must be awake. “Koree, do we…”
But I am interrupted by a screeching sound coming from above us, so loud and piercing I know it can only be one thing. Suddenly the entire sky darkens into an enormous black eclipse. I tilt my head back as the skies above me disappear into black shadows that greedily engulf the last shreds of daylight. Fear pulses through my entire body. It can’t be, I think. It just can’t be.
Chapter 25