Before returning to the camp, Max found a downed tree just outside the mobile settlement. Sitting down, he trembled after having an entire room of drunk people ready to attack him for something he didn’t do. He breathed heavily after hiking up the hill in earnest and having to run back down in fear. His body was tired from fighting, too. He wanted to give up and go home. But when he thought about it, he realized he didn’t have a home to return to. After what had just happened at the fort, Max didn’t think he and Tony would ever be able to be in the same town, let alone the same home.
Pushing these negative thoughts from his mind, he told himself, Come on, Max. You’re the funny one, remember? You’re always up for an adventure. Get up off this log and go help the people of Brookside even if they will never thank you for your service. Do what’s right so other kids can grow up in the Riverlands and enjoy the life you can never have.
Max stood up and forced himself to continue on his way, telling anyone who hadn’t already heard to get back to Brookside.
***
Maija burrowed into her mind. She focused all her efforts on blocking out any sound or sight. There inside Raffagaun’s enclosed wings, she stood alone. Taking a breath, she smelled the salty waves of the ocean washing ashore; she felt the chilled night air swirl around her ankles. She forced all of her senses to shut down and began to slip into a mind state of solitude. She recalled how Ivan sat with her those many days, instructing her on the ability to control one’s mind. Now that she actually had Magic flowing in her veins, Maija could feel it working with her to achieve her goals. The ocean’s salty smell vanished. She likened it to occluded nostrils, stuffed with scentless plugs. The chilly air stilled, and she felt an inner warmth flooding her body. It came from her core and extended out through all of her limbs, helping her relax as the sensation increased. The muffled sounds arising at the plain’s shoreline disappeared and she felt numb to everything but her own mind.
It was hard for her to know how long she’d been in this state before she felt something brush against her thoughts. The feeling did not startle her as it would’ve had she not been waiting for it, but the slight pressing did pique her awareness to another presence. The tickling wave of featherlight pressure gently passed over her brain. Three times it washed around her mind barriers, sending an icy chill that cut right down to her bones. Despite the uncomfortable situation, Maija remained impregnable to the sorcerer’s probe. She forced herself to remain numb until whoever was searching for her had moved on or attacked.
The initial warmth she felt returned to her body. Though the probe had ceased, she remained in the dark vacuum that she’d created for what felt like hours. When Raffa opened his wings and touched on the bond they shared, she lowered the walls that she had placed around her mind. The early morning light still hung low in the east. She looked up to see the dimming starlight above.
Are they gone? Maija asked.
Yes, Raffa responded.
Where did they go?
Two went south, one flew directly over us and circled three times. After the third pass, the rider continued south to join the others.
How long did you wait before uncovering us? she asked.
It’s been a few minutes at most since they flew from sight, Raffa said.
“That’s all?” she asked under her breath.
I waited until I could no longer sense their presence.
Do you think they could see us? she asked.
I don’t know. They didn’t stop to fight, so they might not have.
Who were they? I thought we were the only new riders to have bonded?
Maybe they were in the elven prison and Merglan has set them loose.
Why would they come south? she asked herself and instantly knew the answer, Merglan sent them to retrieve his crystals.
Hopefully whatever Natalia did to the crystals will last long enough to give us a window of opportunity. He did feel weakened when we faced him outside Cedarbridge.
That’s what he wanted us to think, Maija said.
I have a good sense for this kind of thing, and I felt that he was genuinely hurt.
What do we do now? If Natalia is sailing toward the Everlight Kingdom, this is the way she would come. Wouldn’t the riders attack their ships if they saw them?
That would be beneficial to Merglan. Perhaps we should go after them to make sure that Natalia has help if they have attacked her.
Maija groaned nervously, This is a lot of ‘ifs’, Raffa. If my sister is sailing home, she could come by the Bareback Peninsula. She could be going farther east and moving closer to the Eastland shores, and if she went that way, we wouldn’t see her and the dragonriders who just appeared out of nowhere wouldn’t see them either. And what if she hasn’t left Southland at all? No, I don’t think we should risk chasing after them. It would expose us if Natalia isn’t traveling this way. My sister can still wield magic, though her bond was broken months ago and though she didn’t say it, I could see it in her eyes that her abilities were weakening. We said we’d see if they are sailing this way and try to intercept them, so that’s what we’ll do.
Maija started walking up the beach to the grassland edge, wondering if the part of the beach they’d landed on was the best for glassing over the waters. As she reached a grassy mound marking the edge of the beach, she could see no distinct rise much higher than where they stood. The rolling hills behind them never rose high enough to provide a better height advantage.
I guess we’re going to have to patrol from the skies, like the dragons from the C.F.D.D. did along the Nagano border. We can fly from one end of the peninsula to the other, she said hopefully.
That sounds like a good plan, Raffa agreed. I will need to eat and rest occasionally. How many days will we patrol?
Maija thought for a moment. She had been so wrapped up in the possibility of not seeing Anders again that she hadn’t considered at what point they would give up their search and head back.
I don’t know, she said seriously. Can you remember if anyone told us to come back within a certain number of days?
I cannot. That is why I am asking you now.
Four? she said questioningly.
Good. In that case, I must feed now. You said there were fish by the plenty here, did you not?
I did say that, Maija said, hoping that what she’d heard about the fishing in this part of the world was true. More than once she had overheard mariners from the Kewian Islands speak of plentiful fishing in this area.
I’ll come back once I’ve had my fill. Will you be okay by yourself? Raffa asked.
Maija nodded, I’ll be fine. Just don’t go too far. I wouldn’t want to be caught unaware by those dragonriders if they come back.
She sat down on the sandy mound and watched her scarlet dragon glide out over the breaking waves. He dropped into the surf, opening his jaws and dragging them through the surface water. Lifting his head, ocean water poured out from between his teeth, trapping all of the fish inside. She felt his satisfaction when he swallowed a mouthful of fresh tuna. Maija recalled watching Zahara hunt fish when she and Anders were outside the fortress in Eastland. Zahara’s strategy differed, diving in and out like a dolphin, whereas Raffa gathered them by dragging his mouth through the surface like a net. Smiling at his technique and clear satisfaction as he continued to drag his large head through the water, Maija looked to her left where the sun was just rising fully from the horizon. Backlit and darkly outlined, she could see a thin black line bobbing in and out of sight in the distance.
She rose and held her thumb up to block the sun, trying to get a better look at the toothpick-like shape appearing and disappearing in the waves. It was so small that if she looked directly at it, it blurred into the background, but there was no mistaking that something was out there.
Raffa, she said alerting him. We have to scout something out.
