Bleeding Ink

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Corliss squinted against the blinding sunlight, her hand doing little to block it out. Three weeks. Three weeks of traveling from Ayveri to the Eld city stronghold and they still had two days to go.

And it was all because of those dragons.

Don't get her wrong. She absolutely adored both Odanth and Ollyn, but they were trouble. Oh, were they trouble. Especially when Meron was causing trouble right along with them.

"They're fine, Corliss," the male in question called out from behind her atop his own horse.

"But how do you know they're fine, huh? You put rocks in those bags you tied to them."

"Do you need to get your eyes checked? Because look again. They're doing perfect. You know this is what they do during training at the caves, right? Did you never watch Gaven and Ruvyn with the others?"

"Of course, I did, but I..."

He cut her off with a laugh as he urged his horse forward to ride side by side with her. "Stop worrying. Our boys are fine."

Corliss's face flushed with annoyance and just a little bit of embarrassment. Our boys. Meron started calling them that on their first night away from Ayveri. She'd had to do a doubletake when he did, so nonchalant and without any embarrassment from him. And yes, he did realize what he said and how he said it.

Now, he'd been calling them by the endearment for those last few weeks and Corliss was still getting used to it. It made her smile, though, mostly whenever she could manage to hide it would him seeing. They were still on edge around each other, still hesitant to talk about anything other than the dragons after that first and only disastrous dinner.

"What would you say to stopping at one of the smaller villages for the night?" Meron asked her then. He nodded in the direction of a mountain path that disappeared through the trees. "I know of one just half an hour's ride past that boundary."

"Why, though, when we have hours of daylight left? We're only a day's ride out from the stronghold."

"Just trust me, all right? I think you'll like. And we could both use a night in a real bed, couldn't we?"

Corliss wasn't going to argue with him there. Even though they'd had comfortable lodgings in her magically expanded tent, which Bridget had taught her how to do a few decades before, there was nothing like being in a real home with a real bed.

"Do you know of an inn there?"

Meron smiled fondly as he looked up at Ollyn and Odanth flying perfectly overhead. "Sort of, but not quite. We'll be welcomed nonetheless."

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Nope. You'll find out soon enough."

Corliss grumbled, which only made Meron let out a chuckle as he took the lead. He whistled loudly, making both dragons peer down at them from a hundred feet above before taking nosedives down. Her heart leapt into her throat, watching the two of them happily roaring as they plummeted, wings tight and bodies sleek as arrows, but then stopped themselves with just a dozen feet between them and the ground. Ground which shook as they landed, even if gracefully.

"Good boys," Meron grinned. "Now, you're going to have to walk the rest of the way, all right? And be careful you don't take out too many of the trees."

With him still leading, Corliss guided her own horse behind on the narrow trail that only narrowed as soon as they passed the tree line. With the thick canopy overhead, everything darkened around them. It was welcome, though, especially since it had been so long since Corliss had been home in Eld. Not only were the mountains and valleys and grasslands welcome to her, so were the dense forests that surrounded the western side of the city stronghold.