Soar

Chapter 13

The Shaderi city was built into the mountainside.

The dragons landed in the middle of a road paved with ancient stones which cut back and forth, always upward, with buildings along the far side and the near lined with trees. The buildings were thick, their stone walls and shingled roofs blending into solid rock. Most of the houses were fronted by small garden plots.

Still astride Runedan, I stared. Those passing us in the street stared back just as openly.

"Get down," Morena commanded me irritably. She had just dismounted her own dragon and now stood stiffly beside it.

Blushing, I slid off of Runedan's shoulder. His tail draped over my boots.

The other two dragon riders were on their feet as well. One of them removed a helmet and came over to Morena's side. He gave me a cursory glance and bowed his head, then turned to Morena.

"How was the patrol?"

Morena nodded shortly. "Uneventful. The others came across a pack of wild men, but all we found were these two." She waved toward Runedan and me but did not bother to introduce us.

The rider's dragon stepped forward, his bearing full of authority. He was a brute with shiny black scales which shone with blue in the light. Looking down his snout at Runedan, he rumbled, "The scouts mentioned wanderers, but they could only report what they had seen. Tell us about yourself, young one."

I straightened my shoulders. "My name is-"

"Not you," he interrupted with a snort. "I was addressing the dragon."

Runedan rumbled darkly. "I am called Runedan."

The black dragon drew back his head. "Indeed?"

The second man's dragon, a stunning creature with vibrant green scales and bold streaks of gold over his eyes and around the edges of his wings, gave a hissing snicker. Even the riders were grinning, though Morena continued to frown.

"How old are you, small one?" the green dragon asked.

"That I could not say for certain," Runedan answered in a low voice. Leaning against his chest, I could feel the tension in his muscles. "I have passed twenty summers, but I spent those as a captive."

"That accounts for your size, at least," Morena's large dragon put in. Runedan was plainly the smallest dragon in the group.

"But what of his bare head?" the black one wondered mockingly.

I had noticed how the other dragons had horns on their heads: the green one's was more a broad, spikey crown curving back from his eye ridges, while the black one boasted two thick horns which swept back and up. Morena's white dragon, the only female present, had broad, spiraling horns low on her head.

"I was a captive before I met Azadryn," Runedan told them, "and my master shaved my horns. As for my poor appearance, it can be attributed to a life of malnourishment."

"A show dragon?" the black one said. "I have never met one. Tell me, which great arenas have been graced by your fearsome figure?"

Morena's dragon lowered her head to butt her chin against Morena's shoulder. "Enough," Morena said sharply. "They are our guests, however unfortunate their appearance." She narrowed her eyes at the green dragon's rider. "And unless I am mistaken, you are due to the West Guard."

The rider bowed obediently and swung onto his dragon's back. They left without another word.

"Will you introduce our guests, Princess?" the remaining man asked.