Can we fly away from here and wait for the riders elsewhere? Raffa asked.  

Maija could feel that he, too, did not like to look at the destruction they had caused. Yes. We need to, she answered. 

Raffa lowered his shoulder and Maija climbed into her saddle. They flew out away from the riverbank and over the plains. With the sun illuminating the golden grassland, Maija could see a majority of city’s sprawl just a few miles from where they’d camped. Sod-covered homes led inward toward the dense concentration of clay rooftops following the river north. At the southern end of the city, she could see horsemen gathering to ride out toward their meeting place. Flying lower to the ground than they normally would while traveling cross country, Maija steered Raffa closer to the city’s edge. They flew past the gore of the night before and landed in plain sight of the city’s southern border.  

Raffa and Maija watched different groups of riders move in and out of view. Nearly an hour passed before she saw the first sign that they were ready to meet. A group of nearly one hundred started out across the flats toward them. She could still see ten times that many remaining near the city’s edge. Her nerves caused her stomach to flutter as Maija awaited their arrival.  

As they came into view, Maija was surprised to count at least two hundred. In the light of day, Maija visualized what it would have looked like to these plains people the night before. The horses galloped in a line, kicking up dust as they rode. The riders at the end of the line peeled off to either side as they approached to form a circle around them. Where Maija could only see the riders going in one direction the night before, she could now see that there were two rings of the circle. The inner circle trotted counterclockwise; the outer clockwise. In the distracting display Maija failed to notice that two had broken away from the circles and rode directly at her. Slowing to a walk, a man and a woman approached, stopping midway between Maija and Raffa and the circling horses. Maija didn’t see any of the horses fleeing this time and wondered if they’d chosen those that were less likely to spook for today’s display. 

Somewhere in the flow of horsemen, a horn sounded twice and all came to a stop. Maija walked out toward the man and woman, and to her surprise, Raffa followed. When he moved, the horses moved nervously, stamping their feet, snorting and rearing against their rider’s control. Though she expected them to flee, these horses stayed put and the riders were able to calm them into obedience.  

Once Maija and Raffa were about fifteen feet away from the two who had approached, Raffa stopped. Sitting back on his haunches, he settled into a non-aggressive stance. For what seemed to her like a long time, neither Maija nor the two riders uttered a word. The two horses’ nostrils flared, and they pulled at their reins, but their riders remained stoic on their mounts.  

Finally, Maija broke the awkward silence, “Hello. I am Maija and this,” she pointed to Raffa, “is my companion and bonded dragon, Raffagaun.” She used his entire name as it seemed a better fit for the occasion.  

The female horse rider, her long black hair flowing down her back over her buckskin coat, responded, “I am Agatha, the chosen voice for the people of Aquina.”  

Almost the second she stopped speaking, the man at her side dressed in matching garb, said in a steady voice, “I am Gorbach, the chosen defender for the people of Aquina.”  

“I have come to ask for your help,” Maija said. She paused and waited to see how they would respond. 

“What help could you desire from us?” Gorbach asked, pounding his fist against his thick chest. 

“We have not seen a dragon and rider come this far into the plains since the time of war that plagued our lands half a lifetime ago,” Agatha began. “Our people wouldn’t know the first thing about how to go about helping you.”  

“I don’t seek help for me and my dragon, I seek it for the people of all of Westland. The war you speak of, it did not end,” Maija said. 

“It ended when we drove the dark creatures from here,” Gorbach said vehemently. “I remember those days. I was only a child, but my father had ridden on them. Orcs and kurr, the blue eyes called them. I saw them run from us as they have always done when they see us coming.”  

“You might not see it as a concern to you now, but if you knew what was coming this way, you would think differently,” Maija said. 

“What do you know that our scouts have not seen?” Agatha asked. 

“The kurr that your scouts have been hunting down are runaways from a battle that took place on the western edge of the plains near Brookside. A dark sorcerer with a mind to rule the world has sent his armies to conquer the more populated coastal lands of Westland. Three days ago, I helped to destroy their forces and free the people from their occupation. Some must have escaped, and they are seeking food in the heart of the plains, here.”  

“Then the fighting is over. You have won and we will clean up the rest,” Gorbach said. 

“No,” Maija said in a commanding voice. “This fight was only the beginning.”  

“But you just said they were the oppressors and you killed them,” Agatha said. 

“That was a single battle. I am talking about the entire war and battles to come. The dragonrider, Merglan, who brought these forces to conquer the peoples of every nation in the settled world has taken over many of these lands. I am here to ask you to join us in our fight to drive them from our lands.”  

“And when they come, we will destroy them again,” Gorbach said as Agatha nodded. 

“You don’t understand,” Maija said. “Merglan is a powerful sorcerer who has many agents of evil at his disposal. He has taken over the elven kingdom and set free monsters that have not seen the light of day in centuries. Our freedom is in peril.”  

“How do we know you aren’t just telling us this to trick us into doing what you want us to do? You are a dragonrider. If we help you, you would want to enslave us and eat our horses. That’s what the last rider wanted,” Agatha said. 

“No,” Maija shook her head adamantly. “I am fighting for us, for the people. The other rider wants to control you like that, but not us.”  

“We are safe in the plains. We can see them coming from far away and if they are monsters, as you say, we can ride away, and they will not catch us. If need be, we will become nomads like our ancestors and ride the plains in groups searching for food and water. The land will always give our people what is needed, so the legends say,” she said.  

“Listen to me, this easy life is coming to an end. You can’t outride and hide from this evil forever. I saw the orcs sailing to the Everlight Kingdom and they will be marching across the plains. They will come right through here and wipe you out when they see the opportunity,” Maija implored. 

“You do not know how our people fight,” Gorbach said. “We have defended our city from evil before and we won. If they want to come and try again, we will beat them again.”  

“And if you can’t beat them? Then what will you do?” Maija asked. 

“We will ride. Somewhere new and start again,” Agatha said. 

“Look at him,” Maija said, pointing to Raffa. “This is just one dragon who can bestow magic on someone else. We are the good ones, but there are bad ones and they won’t meet with you like this. They will try to control you and kill you.”  

The horse men and women didn’t respond. Maija waited patiently as they looked at Raffa, seemingly trying to imagine more like him and having to fight them. That thought must have had a different outcome than she had envisioned, because they shook their heads.  

“We will not be driven from our homes so easily. Whatever is coming we have faced before and we can do it again,” Agatha said.  

“You haven’t faced it before,” Maija urged. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”  

“You can leave now and hide with the other peoples of this country, but we will not hide. We are the strongest because we live where nobody else will. We are brave and cunning and will survive no matter what,” Gorbach said firmly. 

“Please listen to me,” Maija said.  

“You can deliver our message to the leaders of your war,” he said.  

“And what about your leaders? What will you tell them?” she asked. 

“Our leaders are the people. They will decide what to do. We will spread your message of concern, but I assure you that we are a strong-minded culture and brave. We will not be moved so easily,” Agatha said.  

With one nod to the others, the horn sounded and the horses began to ride. Leaving, they rode back toward the city. Maija stood in the dust cloud they kicked up, shouting at them to come back and listen to her, but it was no use. The horse people of Aquina would make up their own minds and she feared they would stay in the heart of the plains, right in the path of the evil soon to come.  

Cursing to herself, Maija climbed onto Raffa’s back and took to the skies. They continued on their journey to Brookside where Anders and the largest fighting force of Westland awaited her return.

Chapter 81

Mastering Magic

“You’ve been at it for a while. Let me take a turn,” Bo said, taking a seat on the roof of Rune’s medical practice.  

Anders forced himself to look away from the open sky as he asked, “I thought you were still healing?” 

“What’s that got to do with watching the sky for dragonriders?” Bo asked. 

Anders sighed and stood on the second story rooftop, “You’re not wearing the crystal?” 

Bo shrugged, “I don’t need it anymore. Last night was proof.”  

Anders raised a questioning eyebrow.