Maija could tell she would not be able to talk her sister into staying. “Take Raffa with you; you’ll reach them much faster,” she said. 

“No,” Natalia said. 

I won’t leave my bonded when an enemy rider is near, Raffa said to Maija and Natalia both.  

“You’re going to need to stay and try to get the support of Aquina,” Natalia said, preparing to leave.  

“I’ll be fighting the dragonrider with Anders,” Maija said looking at Anders for confirmation. 

He frowned, “I’ll try to, but I don’t know if we can pull both the rider and the fairnheir away from the city by ourselves. You’re going to have to take on the fairnheir after I lead the rider away from the city. If you can, you’ll have to rally the people and cavalry.” 

Maija was about to argue, but Natalia said as only an older sister can, “There isn’t time for arguing, Maija. They’ve seen you and talked with you before. You’ll need to rally the city and face the fairnheir while Anders deals with the rider. I’m going to get the elves. Look for us at dusk. If we’re not here by then, well, just expect us at dusk.” With that Natalia turned and dashed into the river, swimming easily to the other side.  

Anders took several deep breaths and Maija knew he was about to leave her to confront the dragonrider. “Anders,” she said, concern rattling her voice. 

“I know this is scary,” Anders said, taking her hands in his. “But right now, we’re the only ones who can do something about it.” 

“Don’t make me face the army by myself; come back the moment you win or feel a loss coming,” she said. 

“Take Raffa down river into the city, stay on the ground until I’ve drawn the rider away. If you can, call the cavalry to arms. I didn’t see any resistance when I came in.”  

“And if they aren’t there?” she asked. 

“Wait until I lead the dragon away, then scorch those bastards,” Anders said. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and whispered. “We’ll be fine, Maija. I won’t let them take me away from you.” 

“You better not,” Maija whispered, trying to hold back her tears.  

Anders kissed her and turned to leave. Maija watched as he mounted Zahara. She rubbed noses with Raffa and walked out of the river’s draw. Anders and Zahara looked back at Maija and Raffa once before Zahara spread her wings and flew out toward Aquina. 

As Anders flew out of view, Maija suddenly felt that they’d just made a terrible mistake. She and Raffa quickly ran down river toward the city. She jogged so Raffa could keep up. Dragons were faster than humans on their feet, but if they weren’t flying, they couldn’t keep up with the elves.  

What did I learn from Natalia’s story: don’t split up in this kind of situation, she thought.  

I don’t agree with it either, Raffa said. And I really didn’t like you saying I should leave you to protect Natalia.  

I didn’t say you should protect her, Maija thought. I just thought it would go faster, but you’re right, that was a worse idea. If I was all alone right now...  

Don’t even think it; we are together and will not let fear overcome us, Raffa said.  

Right, we need to rally the people of Aquina, Maija replied. Shouldn’t be too hard to get them to listen to me now that they’re under attack.  

Soon Maija was forced to slow her pace, the smoke blowing across the riverbed was too thick to see through. Coughing, she covered her mouth with the shirt under her leather riding armor. The sooty smoke stung her eyes; they watered profusely. She could hardly keep them open. Stopping, she turned around to see Raffa standing still, looking at her in concern.  

How aren’t you feeling this? she asked. 

Why are you crying? I can’t see through the smoke, but it doesn’t bother me, he replied. 

Dragons, she thought and tried crouching. The smoke was less dense near the ground, so she could see a little farther.  

What are you doing now? Raffa asked.  

I can’t breathe up there, so I’m going to have to crawl the rest of the way, she told him. Maija used some of her magic to carefully search out in front of her. She made sure to keep her search within the banks of the river. They’d come closer to the north end of Aquina. She could sense horses and people nearby, but no fairnheir. Crawling farther through the smoke, Maija quickly realized it would take too much time to reach a location where she could see Anders clearly.  

This is ridiculous, she thought. Raffa, fly through the smoke until we’re into the city.  

I was wondering when you were going to ask me to do that, he said. 

If I’m slow to realize something like that, please say something about it, Maija said slightly irritated with herself for not thinking of the solution sooner. The smoke would hide them better than the riverbank.  

She hopped into the saddle, holding her breath for as long as she could. Raffa flew low through the thick gray haze. Maija began to need to breathe, but didn’t want to take in the harsh smoke. Unable to hold out any longer, Maija took several short breaths, each one worse than the last. She coughed violently; the lack of oxygen made her feel sick. Raffa sped faster toward the city and she began to throw up.  

Flying out of the smoke and just over the low rooftops of the adobe-style homes, Raffa descended into an opening inside the city. Maija choked on her vomit as he hit the ground with speed, falling and sliding on his underside. She held onto the saddle with all her strength. Raffa’s wings plowed through homes alongside the street. As soon as he slowed, Maija let out a final hurl, spilling the rest of her lunch on the ground below. Gasping for air from having not had a decent breath in longer than she could stand, Maija focused on not passing out. Blinking rapidly and taking in deep breaths of the fresh air, she controlled her breathing enough to take in her surroundings.  

The smoke behind her acted as a wall trailing from east to west as the wind pushed it across the Plains. The sky was devoid of dragons. While Raffa gathered his feet under him, Maija could see that the dirt street they’d crashed onto and the surrounding streets within sight were empty.  

Are you alright? I felt you were going to pass out, so I hurried as fast as I could, Raffa said. 

Yes, I’m going to be alright, Maija said. Thank you, Raffa, she said, patting his neck, then asked, Where are the people?  

I didn’t see anyone, Raffa said.  

Horses and people were nearby just a minute ago, she said as she searched the area with her mind for the horses and people she’d felt moments ago. She found them, moving very quickly away from them. Maija cursed, They’re fleeing upriver. We must have flown right over them.  

There must be others closer to the fires, Raffa said, spreading his wings to fly. 

Maija checked the skies, Raffa, don’t fly. She directed his attention to where she’d just seen a dragon loop out from behind the smoke. She gasped a moment later when she saw a second follow the same path.  

Was that them? Raffa asked after the dragons flew back out of sight behind the smoke.  

If it wasn’t, Anders is in for a tougher fight than he expected. I hope he knows what he’s doing, she thought.  

I’ll stay low and near the smoke in case we need to hide from view again, he said. 

Be careful, Maija warned. I’m not sure I can take on two dragonriders alone. We should keep our mind barriers up, too, and try not to search too far out from what we can see.  

Agreeing, Raffa flapped his wings several times and let the wind carry him just over the homes. Staying close to the smoke, he moved forward across the city. Maija looked south across the breadth of Aquina. Strangely, she didn’t see a single person or horse, a drastic change from their visit nearly a week ago.

Where is everyone? Why aren’t they defending the city? she wondered. We should see people here, fighting and trying to smother the flames. Unless they fled in the days since we returned to Brookside?  

I sense people ahead, Raffa said. 

Maija searched and found a small group moving in their direction. They’re coming this way, she agreed. These people were moving fast, like the small band she had sensed fleeing. We’ll try to flag them down, she told Raffa.  

The group of men on horseback galloped along the edge of the smoke-filled street. Maija directed Raffa to hover as they came into view. She shouted at them, trying to wave them down. Several men and women from the group of the last Aquinians in the city limits looked up and saw them. Their eyes went wide and they peeled off into the smoke.  

No, Maija thought. Raffa we need to catch them.  

Several arrows shot up from the hazy streets. Raffa moved deftly to dodge them. As the shots flew by, he asked, Why don’t they recognize us?