The Rogue Rider (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 11: Fight or Flight

Ragin spurred his horse through the mountain reaches of the Spine, moving as fast as he dared. Branches whipped at his cheeks, animals scattered in his wake and wind whistled past his ears. His steed kept her footing rather well, leaping over small creeks in a single bound and doing a marvellous job at avoiding the many rabbit holes that lined their path. Normally he wouldn't push the horse so hard, but he needed to get back to Akaysha as soon as possible.

The head start he had had on the dragon riders was gone now. Travelling through the air was usually much faster than travelling on horseback. He had spotted all five riders over the city but a couple of minutes before when he had a chance look back. The orange dragon was miniscule compared to the others, the largest being a green over three times his size. Akaysha wouldn't stand a chance against them.

The reason for his hurry was they seemed to be narrowing down on their location. It would be a day or so until they finally found them, hidden enchantment or not. He wouldn't wait until then. There only chance was if they left now.

An hour of hard riding passed, and finally he felt the familiar touch of Akaysha's conscious. He felt her excitement, happiness and relief rush through him like a waterfall, helping calm his panicked mind ever so slightly. Those emotions quickly dulled however as she caught onto the situation.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Get Uthun to get your saddle and saddlebags ready. We're leaving,' replied Ragin.

'Why?' She said confused.

Not having the patience to explain with words, he simply shoved what he had learned into her mind. The dragoness struggled with the information for a moment, sorting through it, her own alarm becoming greater as she did. He saw several thoughts run through her head at such a pace that he didn't catch them. But she finally settled on recognition.

'I'll alert the urgal,' she responded.

He let out a small sigh of relief and continued to plough his horse through the undergrowth. Another twenty minutes passed before he finally arrived at the clearing. Akaysha was waiting anxiously beside the hut, her saddle already strapped to her back along with two brown bags tied tightly down. Uthun was leaning against a wall, running a whetstone over the edge of his axe. As Ragin came thundering through they both looked up. The thief was already off the horse before it came to a stop.

"You ready?" he asked the dragoness.

'Of course,' Akaysha replied.

"What happened down there Ragin?" Uthun grunted, getting up from the wall.

"Didn't Akaysha tell you?" he asked.

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you."

Ragin sighed slightly and went through a quick rundown on what had happened in Teirm. Akaysha, although having already known this from his memories, listened intently. He felt a strange emotion emerge from her when he mentioned the orange dragon, but she hid it relatively quickly. In the back of his mind he told himself to bring it up later.

"That's a right pickle that is," muttered Uthun with a sigh.

"I know. I can't stay around much longer. We need to get out of here," Ragin replied.

"You need to get out of here," responded the urgal, "I'll only slow your flight down. Besides, I need to make sure they don't find this place. The secrets here are too numerous to allow the dragon riders access."

"Uthun..."

"No Ragin. If they do find it someone will need to make sure our secrets are kept quiet. If it comes down to it I'll burn every book and scrap of text, and destroy the weapons."