You aren’t fit to fly. Let me see if I can repair the muscle tissue.
Zahara didn’t reply and Anders sensed she knew he was right if they were going to continue to venture across Nagano.
He warily summoned the energy within him and found the torn pectoral muscles. With his magic running dangerously low, he used the last remaining ounces he’d managed to build up to heal Zahara’s injuries. As he felt the warmth of the electric energy pass from his body, he ended the magic session. Stepping out from under her, he fell over backward, plunging into darkness.
Blinking when he finally opened his eyes, his view was limited to the ground passing beneath Zahara’s body. As she walked at a steady pace, he became aware that he was slung over her back. He attempted to push himself up, but when he tried to move his arms, they didn’t budge. He felt ties holding them together. Anders tugged with his legs and realized they were also bound. When he wiggled against the restraints, Zahara halted.
You’re awake, Zahara’s voice came into his mind.
Why can’t I move? he asked.
You wouldn’t stay put, so we had to tie you down. Hold on; I’m going to tell Maija.
Anders waited patiently as Maija’s feet came into view. Crouching down to make eye contact, she said, “Brace yourself, you’re going to fall. I’ll try to catch you.” She walked a ways out of view and Anders felt the rope holding him break. He slid forward. Bringing his clasped hands out, he braced for impact.
Stopping just before he hit the darkened earth, he let out a, “huh,” as the rope around his legs tightened. Looking underneath Zahara, Anders could see Maija standing on the opposite side holding onto a rope as she lowered him to the ground. He rolled onto his back, summersaulting his legs back underneath him as Maija let go of her grip. Sitting on the ground he untied the restraints around his ankles. Maija rounded Zahara and assisted him with the rope around his wrists. Once free, he felt a tickle in his nostril and lightly touched at his nose. Two tufts of cloth stuck out from his nostrils. He pulled them out, and found that his nose was no longer bleeding.
Maija extended a hand and he took it. As she hoisted him from the ground, he asked, “Why did you tie me to the saddle? If you would’ve seated me, the magic in the saddle would’ve held me fast.”
“We tried that,” Maija said. “You kept falling around all over the place, bumping your head on her neck and bobbing back and forth as though your spine was going to snap if Zahara moved too fast. It was easier for us to continue at a steady pace if you were stretched out. I thought your saddle would hold you if you were lying on it, but that didn’t work either. You kind of took a header to the ground.”
“That probably didn’t help my cause,” Anders said, rubbing a tender spot on his head.
“After a few more tries, we figured out a good way to keep you up there.”
“A couple more tries?” Anders asked in surprise. “How many times did you let me fall off?”
Maija chuckled, then cut herself off by clearing her throat, “We took care of it, okay? Luckily you had some rope in your saddlebags. Otherwise it could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Well, thanks,” Anders said looking around in the dark.
“You’re welcome. And we stopped your nose bleed, although we can’t do much about those black eyes,” she said.
“Where are we now?” Anders asked.
Anders could see enough of Maija’s darkened silhouette to know she shrugged, “Somewhere in Nagano.”
“Why didn’t we stop to make camp?” he asked.
“As evening approached, we noticed several dragons in the sky that didn’t return to their nests for the evening,”
“You think they’re watching us?” Anders asked.
“It was hard to tell from such a distance. They could’ve been hunting late, but I thought they were coming closer.”
“These dragons wouldn’t attack us, would they? With Zahara and Raffagaun here?” Anders asked.
You’d be surprised how aggressive some male dragons can be, Zahara said. It’s not always about food either. Males can become hostile over their territory, if they’ve established one. And females will attack anything that comes too close to their nest if they’ve got little ones.
I doubt a mother would leave her nest to follow us and if a male were being territorial, why would he have a companion? Wouldn’t the male attack the other dragon if that were the case? Anders asked.
That’s why we’re continuing through the night. We don’t really know. Hopefully we’ll lose them while it's dark out, Zahara replied.
Anders helped Maija pack the cut rope into Zahara’s saddlebags and joined them as they walked into the darkened landscape. After several hours of near complacency, Anders stopped when he heard an unfamiliar voice breach his thoughts. Seeing the others stop as well, Anders understood the command to halt must have been heard by all.
Before he could take another breath, Anders shot his hand to Lazuran and brandished his weapon, falling instinctively into a fighting stance. He saw Maija move in closer toward him and felt her jerk free the knife he kept on his backside.
“Who said that?” she whispered as Raffagaun and Zahara snarled, sniffing the air for the intruder.
Just as Anders shook his head to indicate he couldn’t sense where the source of the voice had come from, a shadow against the dark sky swooped overhead. Anders saw a dragon angle down toward them. Coming in to land, the unfamiliar dragon folded its wings and bared his teeth.
Keep away, Anders heard Zahara say with a snarl. Zahara opened her communicative link to Anders and Maija so they could hear the new dragon’s thoughts as it spoke to her.
We have no issue with dragons in these parts, the dragon said, his voice slightly soothing but obviously holding back anger. That is unless you’ve bonded, he continued, eyeing the saddle Zahara was wearing.
What do you mean, ‘we’? Zahara asked. Anders could sense she was searching for other dragons nearby.
Why the Collective of Free Dragons for Dragons, of course, the dragon said as if this were common knowledge. Anders could sense his pride for their cause.
We’re just passing through. We’ll be gone from Nagano soon enough, Zahara replied, keeping her eyes keenly fixated on the dragon in front of them.
That’s not the point, the dragon said. We, as a race, have been held back by those who seek to force us into bondage. Our belief at the C.F.D.D. is that all dragons should be free from bonds. For too long, elves, dwarfs and humans have sought to hold us back, forcing us to bend our wills to their desires. Our goal is to irradiate all bonded pairs, freeing dragons everywhere to live the lives they were born to live.
Anders shot a wide-eyed glance to Maija, not sure if she was privy to what the dragon was saying.
“What should we do?” Maija whispered to Anders.
Anders shrugged, trying to decide if this matter could be dealt with peacefully. He hoped Zahara would tell him they weren’t bonded, so the lone dragon would let them pass.
