Stepping out and climbing down to the ground at his side, Maija began to walk. A sidelong breeze rolled in with a chilling bite. She thought she heard something moving in the grass. Wishing she still had her heightened sense of hearing that she’d had when Merglan was close, Maija glanced to her right and started searching with her mind. Before she could feel what it was, she was struck from behind.  

Dazed, Maija hit the ground and rolled to the side. Her face instantly felt wet and her vision blurred. She felt the warmth of blood washing into her eyes. Orange and yellow flashes streaked out into the darkness, giving her a slightly clearer vision of what was happening. Maija forced herself up onto her knees, trying to react quickly and orient herself in the confusion. Through the bursts of firelight coming from her dragon, she saw Raffa rearing on his hind legs with his wings flapping and a shower of molten dragon’s breath descend onto four horned creatures.   

Kurr, she realized as their black bodies became charred in fire. 

Not having the time or sense to determine where they came from, she reached for the elven sword she’d taken from her parent’s tack room. Rising and withdrawing her blade, Maija squinted through her blurred vision and poised herself in a defensive stance. The vibrant and electric sensation of magic in her veins brought a vigor to her stance she hadn’t felt before. As if the world around her were moving more slowly, she could feel the movements of the hairy beasts behind her before they could come down on her.  

Maija’s heightened mind told her to step left. She did and a kurr with its horns lowered, rushed by, missing her by inches. Spinning, she faced another kurr, this one only beginning to lower its enormous blockhead. Crouching, Maija dropped and thrust her sword tip out at the creature. The sharp tip sank deep into flesh and she heard its animal cry as the heavy kurr toppled into her. Though blood from her forehead still masked her vision, the magic from within worked to heighten her other senses. She allowed the creature’s momentum to carry through and she rolled backward, somersaulting through the toss. Waiting until she was on top, Maija sprang up from the dying kurr and landed on her feet with her elven blade still gripped firmly in her hand.  

Wow, that worked? she thought, figuring she would continue to roll with the kurr.  

Wiping her eyes clear, she found the kurr she had first dodged rounding on her. In a panic, she started to run. Even with her elven speed, she wasn’t able to outrun the beast. The dark was only lit by sporadic bursts of fire from Raffa as he took on the majority of the group, which made it difficult for her to see the terrain underfoot. With blood trickling through her eyebrows and stinging her eyes, Maija began to feel a sense of panic. Without realizing it, she slowed. 

The sound of the kurr’s pounding hooves gaining on her caused a reaction she hadn’t yet felt. Acting on instinct and responding to a burning flow of heat through her chest, Maija turned on a dime to face the creature head on. Without realizing what she was doing, Maija shot her arm up and felt the burning electric charge pass from her core into her limb. Before she released the energy at the kurr, Raffa’s massive jaws appeared from the darkness overhead, closing around the dark creature with a SNAP! Maija flinched, closing her eyes at the sight of the kurr being severed in half. She felt the electric pulse of magic fizzle and spark as it died in her palm.  

Raffa flung his head to the side, opening his mouth and letting the still-moving upper-half of the kurr soar though the darkness and out of sight, thudding to the ground in the distance.

Are you alright? Your face appears to be broken, Raffa’s voice sounded in her mind. 

Maija attempted to wipe the blood away from her eyes but managed only to smear it further. “I’m fine,” she said out loud. Using her sleeves, she worked to clear her eyes of blood and realized she didn’t usually speak to him out loud. Switching to mindspeak, she asked, Where did they come from? 

They came from the shadows, Raffa said. There must have been at least twenty or so. They seemed desperate to attack a dragon and his rider.  

Either desperate or stupid, Maija said, pressing her forearm over her forehead, trying to stanch the bleeding.  

Please, allow me, Raffa said lowering his large muzzle to Maija’s level.  

A glow of light burned from her forehead sending a hot sensation that seared her skin. Wincing, Maija pulled away from him while dabbing her hand up to the cut. When she’d been magically healed before, she had not been conscious. The burning continued to increase despite her attempt to shy away. Hey, she thought. A moment later her pain vanished. She brought her hand up to her forehead once more, now feeling uniform skin wet with recent blood.

Thank you, Raffa.  

More are on their way, Raffa said lifting his head from Maija to look into the darkness beyond Maija’s back. Quick, get behind me.  

With some reluctance, Maija did as he asked. Feeling as though she should be able to defend herself now that she was a dragonrider, she stood behind Raffa with her sword in her hand. She looked into the darkness and listened to the hooves pounding on the ground, and then sent her mind out to anticipate where the attack would originate. Using her magically enhanced senses, she felt a group of fur-bearing animals moving rapidly toward them. Fairnheir was her first thought, but the sound of hooves gave her pause. Soon Maija felt more of them and sensed that she and Raffa were being surrounded.  

Where are they coming from? she asked, thinking that if they really were surrounded, she would jump onto Raffa’s back so they could fly to safety.  

They are all around us, Raffa concurred.  

That’s what I thought. We shouldn’t have come here. Let’s go, Maija said as she quickly bounded to his front shoulder. Once she had settled into her saddle, Raffa spread his wings, preparing to leave. From his back, Maija could faintly see the figures surrounding them through the darkness. Expecting to see more horned kurr who may have escaped the earlier battle near the Riverlands, she instead saw horses. Raffa’s large wings flapped as a host of people on horseback galloped into view. Raffa, hold, she said. These are the people we’ve come to talk with.  

Raffa didn’t respond with his voice, but Maija could feel that he didn’t trust these strangers.   

As the riders came closer, they veered away from a direct approach and began to ride in a circle around them. She could feel Raffa’s readiness to take flight and told him, Raffa, hold; stay on the ground. 

Recognizing that they were having trouble controlling their mounts, Maija wasn’t shocked when a sizable number among the group lost control of their horses. The horses ran frantically away from the large dragon. Maija didn’t blame them and wondered how many had ever seen a dragon before.  

Those who managed to keep control of their horses continued to trot them around the dragon in a wide circle. Maija realized that they were waiting for Raffa to make a move. Before waiting to see what the horsemen would do next, Maija decided to act. She leapt down from her saddle, landing lightly in the charred grass. She slid the elven sword back into its scabbard at her side and slowly stepped out in front of Raffa. If she hadn’t been able to feel his fear for her, she could’ve seen it in the low red glow emanating from his chest. She raised her hands up to show her innocence and walked forward. Several of the riders slowed and then stopped to face her. Maija continued to walk steadily out away from Raffa’s protection.  

When she had traveled halfway between her dragon and the slowing circle of riders, she stopped and said loudly, “I am Maija. We come in peace.”  

She could see the riders who’d stopped were nervously eyeing Raffa whose chest glowed with fire at the ready.  

One of the horsemen pulled something from his saddle and brought it to his lips. He blew on his horn twice and the remaining riders immediately halted. Maija glanced over her shoulder at Raffa to see him shift nervously and fold in his wings.  

The man with the horn and two others rode closer to Maija, stopping a spear’s throw away from her. Still appearing somewhat nondescript in the darkness, the one with the horn spoke up, “You say you come in peace, but signs of violence are present. Explain yourself.” 

“My dragon and I were traveling to speak with your people. We didn’t want to cause alarm and panic in the city, so we thought remaining outside the area until daylight would cause less alarm. Shortly after landing, though, we were attacked by kurr. We burned most to ash, but at least one or two bodies remain to prove my claim. Violence was necessary for our survival, but I assure you it is not why we are here,” Maija said, trying to speak in a clear, calm voice. 

“I have been asking myself why you and your dragon have not burned us to the ground already,” the horseman said. “If what you say is true, then you will not mind if my people take every precaution in meeting with you.”  

Maija spread her hands and said, “By all means.”  

“As for the beasts you have killed, this is why we rangers are on night patrol. For several days now, we have had them hunting our horses and attacking people who live on the outer limits. We haven’t had these foul things in the Bareback Plains for decades, if at all. The only mention of them is in the stories our elders tell us. I thought the stories were fables until recently, the same way I thought your companion to be a fable until this moment.” 

“These kurr caught us off guard, something that I will not allow to happen again,” Maija said. 

The horseman nodded, then said, “Then it will not bother you to stay out of the city until we can bring our people to you. They will want to speak with you.”  

“We can wait,” Maija said.  

“Until morning then,” the rider said, heeling his horse into motion and blowing the horn again. The rest of the riders galloped away into the darkness.  

When the last of them had disappeared, Raffa spoke, I hope you know what you are doing.  

These people could be a major asset to us in the fighting that’s sure to come, she said. 

What if they will not fight with us. 

Then we must at least warn them of the dangers they will face. These kurr, she nodded to the burned grass, are the least of their worries. 

And our main worry tonight, Raffa added.  

We can take turns being on watch, Maija suggested. 

We should be closer to the water where we are out of sight. I don’t sense any more kurr and I doubt they would be dumb enough to attack a dragon again. 

Even still, Maija said as they walked away from the spot where they’d been attacked. I think that we should keep a watch out for more of them. Maija led them to the riverside several hundred yards to their right. Kneeling on the bank, she dipped her hands in and splashed water on her face. As she scrubbed off the drying blood, she thought of Anders and wondered what he would do in her shoes. She found her thoughts continually returning to him as she rested near Raffa’s side. Just one more day, she told herself. 

*** 

When Maija awoke, the sun was just climbing over the sloping riverbank. A thin layer of frost blanketed the grassy dip where the river flowed. The leather rider’s armor she wore provided some barrier from the cold, but not the warmth one required for the approaching winter. Luckily, she didn’t need such amenities with the warmth of a dragon’s body to heat her and after her stint in the wilds of Nagano, she was no stranger to sleeping under the stars. With the most populated city in Westland across the river and several miles away, her yearning to fly into the heart of the city and begin sampling the foods in their markets nearly overcame her promise to remain away. If the people of Aquina saw her flying in now, after she’d told them they wouldn’t, the fear of a dragonrider attack would be imminent and the consequences could be extreme. The simple breakfast foods and warm tea she desired would have to wait until she returned to Brookside.  

Banishing the hope of existing in a normal human environment, Maija snuggled into the warmth of Raffa’s heated body. The radiant heat from his scales alone was enough to burn away any frost within ten feet of the ground surrounding his body. She hadn’t yet gotten too cold when she slept at his side or under his wing, though the summer was at its end and autumn’s chill had taken hold in Westland.   

After a breakfast of dried meat and stale bread that she’d packed in her saddlebag, Maija washed her dry mouth with fresh water from the river. Soon they were ready to leave the shallow gully surrounding the river. Maija and Raffa walked up from the riverbank to the site of their late-night ambush. The splotches of burned grass included kurr bones and melted flesh. The one dead from Maija’s sword lay off to the side, flies already swarming. A short distance away she shivered at the sight of the bottom half of the one Raffa had bitten. The grass trampled by the horsemen made the grisly scene more visible in the light of day.