Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

     The world was a different place when seen from the back of a dragon. It was so much larger, and smaller at the same time. High above the clouds, Ban Karst felt both insignificant and supreme. With Deebee beneath him, the waters of the Great Leyr appeared like a sheet of mirrored glass reflecting the sunset behind him.

    "We're losing daylight," Ban shouted to be heard over the wind. "Are we close?"

    "We'll arrive soon," Deebee said. "Either my friend will be able to point us towards where Kimpo is, or Almo is the reason Elise sent her here."

    Ban raised his helmet's visor and shifted his riding posture to look behind him. Moon stood a pace away on Deebee's right flank. The knights were adopting nautical phrases when in flight-- natural for Altieri-- so Ban supposed he should start calling that side of Deebee starboard.

    Moon saw him looking her way and held out her thumb and index finger, the kith gesture signaling that no enemies were in sight.

    Ban nodded to her then checked over the rest of the crew. The rope and leather harness Deebee wore had been devised by Nooka the Artificer and Paladin Hugin, then constructed over the past few days by the craftsmen following the army. She and the other dragons all had harnesses, and the mighty were wearing them whenever in their true forms. The idea was to grow acclimated so the riding tack could be carried through polymorphy as with clothing.

    Other than Ban and Moon, fifteen Karst armsmen and ten goblins rode Deebee. Each had their own harnesses that attached to Deebee's via snap-lock shackles. The harness system kept the crew from losing balance during a dragon's more dramatic aerial maneuvers. It also allowed the braver crewmen to catch a little sleep over long flights like this.

    Nooka and Hugin had grand plans for outfitting dragons further, such as cargo nets and fitted armor to protect the more vulnerable areas. It would be some time before any of that came about, but the harnesses were working. That was more than Ban could have hoped for considering the short timeframe. In recognition of the achievement, Enfri had appointed Hugin as her Lord of Emeralds.

    Seeing the crew move about Deebee's back reminded Ban of sailors clambering along the rigging of a ship. They kept one hand on the harness at all times, pulling themselves along, detaching and reattaching the snap-lock, and moving between the watch positions. Four dauntless souls even hung beneath Deebee's belly, keeping an eye on the ground.

    "You're sure this isn't uncomfortable?" Ban called up to Deebee.

    "For the last time," she replied, "not in the slightest. I hardly feel you lot at all. I'm quite accustomed to it now." A sound rumbled deep within her. It carried a note of consideration. "However, I can see the harness rubbing my hide raw if this goes on too long. I've never experienced scale-chafe, and I don't care to."

    "We're still working the snags out of how the knightly orders will operate," Ban said. "Nautical terms, goblin hand signals... We still need a reliable way to signal the rest of the formation. The flags just aren't working."

    Deebee grunted. "That oil-less lantern Nooka brought from Irdruin might be the answer."

    Ban recalled the strange device. Turn a crank and it shone with a bright light for a little while. Irdish artificers were coming up with all sorts of marvels as of late. "After we have Kimpo back, we might see to commissioning a few more. Worth looking into, if nothing else."

    The port watch blew their whistle. Ban twisted at the waist to look to his left.

    Grimdar emerged out of a bank of clouds. His gigantic wingspan trailed droplets of water along its length as he came out, and his crew shook beading water from their arms. Knight-Lieutenant Valuris, a blossom knight from House Ulthred, was acting as Grimdar's stand-in Ruby for this flight.