“Ho! Greetings, Torvald—” I raised a bare hand and half-raised myself from Ymmen’s neck to let them see my face.
But, without so much as a sound, each of the dragons suddenly peeled away from the others in perfect precision. The greens half-rolled as they swept downwards towards our right and left, and the blue in front pulled up at the same moment, arching higher over our heads.
With a hiss of agitation, Ymmen tipped his wings forward and we swept downwards, away from the dragons attempting to close in all around us – but a fraction of a moment later I saw that had been the Dragon Rider’s intention all along. Ymmen scooped his bulk up from the dive, and now we were racing along the tops of a woodland, with the dragons in the superior, dominating position above us.
“Ymmen!” I said in alarm, but the dragon beneath us didn’t answer. He kept his thoughts tight and controlled, concentrating on his flight.
“Land!” I heard an echoing shout from one of our pursuers – as now all three dragons had wheeled around to chase us, again with the two greens nearing on each side and the blue above. They were trying to box us in.
“Land—order of the King—!” The wind snatched at the Dragon Rider’s demands, but I caught the gist of what they were saying.
Why do I have to obey these strangers! A hot and angry thought bubbled up through my mind, bringing with it a wave of indignation. We just fought Inyene! And for you ingrates, too!
“Little Sister—” Ymmen broke his silence to needle the urgent thought into my consciousness.
“—act of War!” I heard one of the nearer Dragon Riders astride an approaching green dragon yell, and it made my blood boil. How dare they! Do they not know who I am? What it took to get here? A cloud of red threatened to fill my thoughts and even darken my eyes as the frustrated anger flowed through me, hot and fierce.
“We mean no—” I heard Tamin behind me shouting back, and for a heartbeat my anger was transferred to him, too. Who did my god-Uncle think he was, speaking for me in this way? I could mean and bring all the harm I wanted to!
Pheet! There was a strangled gasp from the others behind me as something shot past over Ymmen’s back. Turning around, I saw something else shoot out from the other side, coming from the direction of the other green dragon on our left.
“They’re stars-damned shooting at us!” I realized, seeing the long black arrow arch into the woodlands below. Why in seven seasons are they shooting at us!!
“Fire, smoke, and fear—” Ymmen was suddenly saying in my mind, and the sense-impression of acrid, greasy black smoke came with it.
“What?” I turned my head to see that out there, up ahead on the horizon there was a rising column of black smokes. Just like out on the Plains, I thought. Inyene?
Pheet! Pheet! Another volley of arrows shot out towards us, and this time—
“Skrargh!” Ymmen let out a plume of smoke as one of the arrows skittered across one of his wings. It wasn’t enough to draw blood or even pierce his thick, leathery wings, but suddenly the anger I felt turned into incandescent rage.
“HOW DARE YOU!” I screamed, as Ymmen flicked his wounded shoulder and we were suddenly slicing through the skies, veering away from the two green dragons on either side as Ymmen sought to shake them loose.
We’re here to help them. To save them! I thought, my hands shaking where they held onto the rope-harness, my head throbbing again with the rising buzz of the Stone Crown. It didn’t hurt as much as it had done before however. Because I know how to use it, now, I knew. Something had happened the last time that I had given myself over to its influence and summoned the Lady Red and her brood. Perhaps it was the fact that I had finally claimed it from Inyene. The Stone Crown was mine, and it would obey me – just as every dragon that walked or flew over this world would do as well!
“Little Sister!” Ymmen’s voice was hot and fierce in my mind, buffeting my thoughts as he attempted to shoulder my rising need to use the Stone Crown aside.
“What are you doing!” my voice screeched at Ymmen – only it didn’t sound like my voice at all, did it? No, it sounded strong, the kind of strength we need right now—
I could feel the other three dragons now with my mind and knew that I must be using the Stone Crown even though I wasn’t aware of it, in the way I had felt the sudden switch in my emotions and thoughts, before. I could feel the warmth of their bonfire dragon souls. I knew in that instant, precisely how close they were, and how they were attempting to corral us towards a line of cliffs… Amazingly, I could also detect the much smaller lights of their Riders’ minds, sitting atop the dragon soul. I knew that if I wanted to, I could use the Stone Crown to reach into each dragon and tear apart that bonding link between riders and reptile as easily as snatching at grass stalks—
“NO!” Ymmen boomed into my mind, and it was like being shoved. I lurched in my saddle, coughing and spluttering as my head was filled with Ymmen’s hot furnace of shame and anger.
By the Stars! I thought in my anguish, clutching at the Stone Crown on my head and attempting to wrench it from my brow. Of course, it did not move at all. Had I really just intended to cut the natural link between rider and dragon? Between bonded companions? “No – no – no!” I cried out in dismay. “Ymmen, please – this isn’t who I am, this isn’t me, I promise—” I sobbed, as Tamin’s hands grabbed at my shoulders.
“Nari? Little Nari – what’s wrong!?” he said distantly, the ringing in my ears and the guilt in my heart making his voice sound so very far away.
“Skrargh!” Another burst of pain erupted from Ymmen, as more arrows sought out his wings. In his concentration with me, I could tell that his awareness of the dragons that chased us had slipped, and now the green dragons were so close that they were almost able to reach us with their claws—
“Enough of this!” Ymmen let out a deep, ululating cry before he clapped his wings together, temporarily breaking apart our formation of green and black and giving him the space to suddenly plummet out of the sky, towards the base of the low cliffs that edged a river. He was taking us down.
“No, Ymmen – they’ll kill us!” I gasped, just before there was a jolt as Ymmen’s claws hit the surface of the shale and grit riverbank, sending up great sprays of pebbles as he slowed, wings half curled, before finally coming to a complete halt.
“We cannot go on like this,” Ymmen said, his voice tight with rage and frustration as he slowly leaned forward on his forepaws, stretching out his long neck and lowering his great head to the ground of the riverbank with a heavy thump.
“Nari? Ymmen – what’s going on?” Tamin was asking worriedly. “Why is Ymmen stopping? Is he injured? Did something happen?”
Yes, Uncle, I thought in my misery. Something had happened – me.
“Lay down your arms, by order of the king!” There were cries and shouts as the three dragons performed perfect pinwheels, with the two greens circling above us and the singular blue raising its wings to land with a powerful thud on the riverbank a little way away. Through my tears, I saw how the blue’s chest was rising and falling in great lungfuls of air, and the base of its neck was swelling from where it would exude its fire.