It was incredible.
“I want to go down!” Kendal screamed, the terror evident in her high-pitched tone.
I wanted to go higher, I wanted to sprout wings myself and fly off into a distant land. I wanted more.
“Woooo!” I couldn’t help the shriek of joy that left my lungs as the king cut to the left and zoomed off towards Jade City at a blistering pace. I laughed as the cool morning air pressed against my skin and made my long blond hair whip around my face.
It was the most thrilling experience I’d ever had. I was about to scream out in joy again when I spotted the queen’s army in the distance and a stone sank in my gut. Hundreds of speckles of metal glinted in the rising sun, a harrowing fate for the day to come.
Kendal whimpered, her face pressed down into the floor of the basket as she curled into a ball at my feet and held on for dear life. I reached down and patted her back, trying to reassure her as my mind chewed on the sight of the queen’s army.
How long would it take us to get to Jade City by flight? Would the king be able to rouse an army in time? Surely not if they needed to make it all the way from Jade City to Gypsy Rock on only horseback.
My eyebrows drew together as I noticed a group of large birds coming closer to us. They were flying above the army, but what concerned me was that the birds’ wings glinted in the sunlight much like the men below.
Metal?
The king veered left towards Jade City and I craned my neck to follow the birds.
Something isn’t right.
As they neared, I realized how large they were.
‘Your Highness…’ I turned forward again, trying to mentally communicate with him, unsure how to initiate the process, but merely thought something and then pushed it at him.
‘What is it?’ he asked, flying us faster and harder than before.
I peered behind us again, not sure that my suspicion was correct. ‘You see those half dozen birds behind us?’ I asked him.
He craned his large dragon head quickly over one shoulder and then nodded before facing forward again.
‘Yes.’ He sounded distracted, as if my chatter was taking his concentration.
I pulled my hunting knife from the sheath at my thigh, hoping I wouldn’t spook Kendal, whose face was still buried in her hands at my feet. ‘They aren’t birds.’ I tried to sound calm, but even in my own head I could hear the terror in my mental voice.
His head whipped back again. His nostrils started to smoke as he squinted, his eyes taking in the human arms and legs dangling from the “birds.”
‘Another one of the Nightfall queen’s inventions. A flying contraption for a human?’ He sounded bewildered.
My heart hammered in my chest as I peered behind me once more. The men were gaining on us, and they indeed had metal wings attached to their backs with leather straps, but it left their arms and legs free to dangle, and right now, in each man’s right hand was a sleek metal sword.
‘They carry swords!’ I advised the king, and looked closer at one of the other bird men.
‘Hades!’ the king cursed, pushing even faster as his wings cut through the air with ease. ‘I hate to ask this of a lady but… can you fight? You said you hunted, right?’
A lady? I wasn’t a lady. Not really. Not delicate and easily spooked like Kendal was.
‘Yes,’ I growled. ‘My knife is already out.’
‘Look down at your feet. There are two stirrups. Slip your feet into those and unbuckle your waistbelt so that you can stand up.’
Stand up without a waistbelt? Was he insane? My hands shook with nerves, just like they did before a kill, and I wished I had my bow. It was back in the trunk on the carriage at Gypsy Rock.
“Arwen, what’s happening?” Kendal whimpered. She peered behind us and then let out a shriek of terror.
“Just lie down and cover your head,” I ordered her as I slipped my boot into the tight straps sewn into the harness, spreading my legs wide so that Kendal was between them. There was a ratchet type of strap that I used to tighten it until my foot felt positively squished. Better to be too tight than too loose. I unbuckled my waistbelt and then tried to stand.
It took me two tries, but I finally did it, unprepared for the wind trying to knock me back again.
‘I’m standing,’ I told the king.
‘Good. Now crouch down and grab my sword from the saddlebag to your right.’
His sword? The dragon king wanted me to take his sword?
‘Umm, I’m not sure—’
‘That’s an order. Take my sword now!’ he barked into my head and I jumped, quickly crouching to flip open the clasp that held the flap of the saddlebag shut. When I reached in and came out with the sword, I could barely heft it with one hand. I had to re-sheath my own knife so I could hold the king’s blade with two hands. When I held it more confidently, I stared in awe at its beauty. It was covered with more rubies and jadestones than I could ever imagine would fit in the hilt of a sword.