She ate slowly, still watching the sea. She was just finishing her meal and fighting the urge to sleep (which all her pride but Selix had given in to), when she saw Bartoom. At first the dragon was just a speck far out to sea, even farther than her dragon eyes could see. But as she watched the shape grow, the feeling of familiarity grew as well. She knew it was the great black dragon, returning to the mountains. As it got closer, she sensed that it was injured. It flew slowly, almost favoring one side. She could sense that the dragon was exhausted, and she guessed it was so focused on rest that it had not noticed them. Her pride was stretched out on the ridge, basking in the sunlight. Only Selix was watching the big, black skinned dragon.
“We’ll wait,” she said reassuringly. “Bartoom is hurt. We’ll let it rest and then approach. I can heal it, and Bartoom knows that. Let’s get some sleep while we can.”
Brianna wrapped herself in a blanket and lay down on the soft bed of moss beside Selix. The big, golden dragon stretched a wide wing over her and they slept. Brianna dreamed of Zollin. He was flying beside her on Ferno, looking happy and free. It was a good dream and she woke with a sense of yearning that made her almost weep.
She rose and stretched, taking a drink from her canteen. The sun was beginning to set and she marveled that the day had seemed to pass in an instant. She turned, looking at the other mountains until she settled on a direction to search for Bartoom. Then she roused her pride. They set off just before twilight, gliding on the air currents and circling the mountain peaks. It was fully dark before she found Bartoom. The big black dragon was hidden in a cave, still sleeping, she sensed.
Brianna guided her pack down onto the mountainside, which was steep and covered with trees, but the dragons settled between the thick, prickly boughs and waited. They were well back from the entrance to the cave and Brianna approached alone, although it made the other dragons in her pride nervous.
“Bartoom,” she called out in a gentle voice. “Where are you, old friend? Wake up and come meet my pride.”
There was a low, menacing growl from the cave, like a dog warning its owner of danger.
“It is me, Brianna,” she said, hesitating near the entrance to the cave. “I know you’re hurt. I want to help.”
“Enter,” hissed a deep voice.
Brianna walked boldly into the cave. It was dark outside, but the sky was full of stars and the moon was near full. But inside the cave there was no light. Even with her enhanced vision, Brianna could not see into the recesses of Bartoom’s lair. She kindled a small flame and let if float up above her head. The light was reflected by Bartoom’s eyes.
“How did you come to be here?” it hissed, the dragon’s forked tongue flickering as it spoke.
“I flew, with my pride,” she said. “They are anxious to meet you.”
“You have created more dragons,” Bartoom said. He spoke slowly, his mouth and tongue working hard to form the words.
“Of course I have,” she said simply. “It is what I was created to be. I am dragon-kind and humankind. You know that.”
“I do, but you are not safe here. I am no longer in control.”
“So the wizard has enslaved you?”
“Yesss,” Bartoom said, drawing out the word as anger took hold. “I was foolish, but you are not. Why have you come?”
“To help you, and to help Zollin.”
“Your wizard friend,” Bartoom said, looking away. “What do you know of him?” Brianna said.
“I cannot say.”
“Yes you can. Have you seen him? Is he well?”
“I have seen him. He plies the seas.”
“He goes to confront your master,” Brianna said. “The wizard of the Torr enslaves his own kind as well, but Zollin will stop him.”
“He may,” Bartoom said.
“May I help you?”
“There is no need,” the dragon hissed.
“But you are hurt. I can sense it. Let me help.”
Bartoom lowered his head. Brianna stepped forward, the heat in her hands growing and then slowly seeping into the black dragon. Its fractured ribs healed, and then the burns on its back.
“What happened to you?” Brianna asked, trembling now.
She had known that Bartoom was hurt, but she had not expected the dragon to be burned. Fire would not damage the great beast’s scales, but something had. She wondered briefly if Bartoom had flown into a storm and been struck by lightning, but that seemed absurd. She couldn’t imagine why a dragon would willingly fly into a storm. Then the thought struck her that Zollin had wounded Bartoom. She felt almost sick at the thought of it and couldn’t help but push a mental image of Zollin toward Bartoom.
“Yes,” the dragon hissed. “The wizard is powerful. A dragon slayer in the making.”
“No,” she said. “He wouldn’t kill if he could help it. Why did he attack you?”
“It isn’t important.”
“Of course it is,” Brianna said, tears stinging her eyes. She felt betrayed and frightened. She couldn’t imagine Zollin killing dragons, even though that had been his intent in the Northern Highlands. He would have succeeded too, if Brianna had not healed Bartoom and helped him escape. She knew he was a good man, but he had used his powers to hurt Bartoom and the thought of him becoming a dragon slayer was repugnant to Brianna. He didn’t know her kind, not yet. But she had dreamed of flying with Zollin, of welcoming him into her pride. She knew the other dragons would never do that if he was a dragon slayer.
“I was attacking the ship he was on. My master sent me to the sea to attack the wizard’s ship. I had no choice.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you destroy his ship?”
“No. But there was a sea creature that may have. That was two days ago. I have not seen the ship again.”
Brianna’s heart fluttered in her chest. Fear of losing Zollin was so strong it was almost tangible. She wanted to run, to leap high into the air and race to the ocean to find her love, but she knew that was foolish.
“How far away was he?”
“Almost a day’s flight south,” Bartoom said.
“I will go to him.”
“And I will stay-”
Its voice was suddenly choked off, as if someone had taken the giant beast by the throat. Bartoom’s eye’s glazed for a moment, then focused on Brianna. Then Bartoom rushed forward, forcing Brianna aside and running out into the open. The dragon roared, setting the trees around its lair on fire. The other dragons of Brianna’s pride roared back, then they took to the sky.
Brianna ran back out of the cave, her small flame extinguished. She looked up and saw her pride rising around Bartoom, who was flying straight up. The big black dragon feinted one way, then swung to the other, lashing out with its tail at Gyia. The smaller purple dragon swung just out of reach as Bartoom’s mighty wings sent it shooting higher into the air. Tig and Torc were faster than the big black beast, but they dared not engage the larger dragon head-on. They flew up higher and higher.
Ferno was not as fast as Bartoom, but pursued the black dragon with a vengeance. Brianna’s pride had been startled by Bartoom’s sudden appearance from the cave and the blast of fiery breath, but they had not anticipated attack. They had flown up into the air with Bartoom out of instinct. On the ground, most dragons felt exposed and weak, but in the air they were stronger. Their huge bodies flew as nimbly as humming birds. When Bartoom had attacked, they were shocked, frightened, and angry.
Ferno’s jaws opened wide as it lunged for Bartoom’s tail, but another flap of the black dragon’s wings took it beyond Ferno’s reach. Then Selix closed on the huge beast. They were almost the same size, Selix’s golden scales reflecting the moonlight while Bartoom’s black scales seemed to swallow any light that came near it. The two dragons clashed in mid-air, their tails lashing and their talons tearing. Fire lit the sky and Brianna could see the dragons as they fell, battling one another as they raced headlong toward the ground.