Page 50 of Consorting with Dragons

The shadow circled around again—I could see the shine moving through the treetops—and then suddenly it appeared plainly overhead as it came back around, like it was searching for something like we had been. It was a Golden dragon, like Talon, only much bigger than Talon and fully grown. It was every bit as large as Sulamon. It sailed majestically past, and I could see people on his back. They were too far up for me to see who any of them were, but there was a rider, sitting where I usually satup between the dragon’s shoulders, and then there was a kind of sling over his back, made of the same netting as we used for our harness packs. Clinging to the netting were at least three or four people on the side I was looking at, with probably more on the other side to balance out the weight. I ducked quickly back under the trees, so they didn’t see me or even a glimmer of my face in the growing dark as I gazed up at them. Once they passed over, I stepped out from under the tree to see if I could still see it and figure out which way it was flying. I had to crawl up to the very top of the ridge to see, but thankfully, those shiny scales of the big Golden shone in the last rays of sunlight. I saw his wings dip down as he disappeared below the treeline. I thought at first that I’d lost him, but then as clear as day, I heard what had to be his voice, calling out in a high, thin tone, very like Talon’s voice.

I couldn’t quite make out the words, probably because it wasn’t in any language I understood anyway, but it sounded like he was complaining quite loudly about something. I went back to Talon to tell him about what I’d heard.

“Talon,” I whispered. “Be very quiet and don’t call out or make noise. They’re not far away. I’m going to go through the woods to spy on them if I can and see who they are. They might help us, but then again, they might not. So until we know for sure, we should be careful. I’ve never seen any other Golden dragons, and I think Quinn said he hadn’t seen one in years. Something very strange is going on. We got you from the Thalians, and now they have tried to rebel against my grandfather. These may be some of the Thalians on the run and hiding out from Tygeria.”

“Wait. That sounds dangerous. Are you leaving me here? By myself?”

“Yes, Talon, but you’re perfectly safe as long as you stay quiet. Don’t call out for me or make any noise. I’m going to getcloser and figure out if we can trust them. Maybe they have food for your dinner.”

“I don’t think they do. That’s what the big dragon was saying. He’s hungry and wanted them to feed him. I think they had been looking for something for him to eat.”

“Just stay here and don’t come after me. Promise me.”

“I won’t,” he said, but he sounded unconvincing.

I left Talon behind in the shadowy woods and began walking in the direction I’d seen them flying. I walked for a longer time than I thought I would have to and began to think that I’d gone in the wrong direction. But just about the time I thought about turning around and going back, afraid I’d get lost again, I began to hear the distant sound of men talking to each other on the other side of the rise I was headed up. Icrept closer to the top of the hill and then got on my knees and crawled to a vantage point to look over the hill into a shallow valley below.

The “valley” was like a bowl in a way, or a declivity between two mountain ranges, and would be almost hidden by the thick forest and tall trees if anyone were looking from above. I slowly moved down the side, darting between tree trunks and trying my best to stay under cover of the foliage and the shadows brought on by the quickly approaching darkness.

To my surprise, I could see it was a rather large sized camp. From my vantage point looking down into it, hidden by the trees and shrubs, I could see men in green uniforms like those King Travon and his Thalian soldiers wore that day in the warehouse when I’d first encountered Quinn. That had to be who they were. These soldiers were now bustling about, building up their fires outside their tents and setting up cooking pots outside. Some men sat around the fires. Others carried water in buckets from a stream on the side of the camp. All the tents seemed to form a circle of sorts around the largest tent in the center of the camp. Young boys acting as messengers ran back and forth and smokefunneled up into the gray sky from a dozen or more campfires, but the smoke was quickly swallowed up and incorporated into the low clouds hanging overhead.

The truth of what I was seeing slammed into me—this was indeed a large Thalian encampment, judging from the green uniforms. But why were they here on Horvath? If the Thalians were there openly, then why were they hiding in these remote mountains and why hadn’t I heard about it? It would have been on the media, certainly, and Quinn would have known about it and maybe not discussed it with me, but surely, he would have at least made mention of it. I crouched there in the encroaching darkness for a while, just trying to wrap my mind around the idea. I was surprised to see it was almost completely dark, which meant I must have been there for much longer than I’d thought. I had to get back to Talon, because knowing him, he was already panicking. I glanced back down toward the camp before I left, and there on the far side of it, lying on the ground under a grove of trees, were several large, Golden dragons. All of them were adults, according to what I could judge from their size. They seemed to be as large as Sulamon, though it was hard to tell since they were all lying down.

They had to be here secretly, because I couldn’t imagine Horvath giving them a place to hide out from the Tygerian forces, even if Travon’s father had originally been from Horvath before he married the Thalian queen. That might give him some claim to Horvathian citizenship, for all I knew, but from what my omak-ahn had said, Travon was on the run, after being involved in a coup attempt against the Axis. Blake had said that Davos and Mikos would be taking care of it, and I knew what that probably meant. I needed desperately to get out of there and find my way back home so I could contact Quinn. He’d know what to do and how best to get word to my grandfather.

Chapter Fifteen

Quinn

I was feeling desperate. I’d been flying for hours on Sulamon, resting when I thought he was getting too tired, but then afterward moving on, deeper and deeper into the mountains. Surely, Rylan and Talon hadn’t strayed so far, but I’d searched all the closest lakes and even followed a river for a few miles and had seen no sign of them. It was getting close to sunset, and then we’d have to stop for the night. Starlight was barely enough to navigate by in these mountains, let alone conduct a search, and there was even the possibility of meeting wild vetami, which usually ran in packs.

I’d been calling out in my mind for Talon for some time now, getting a little more frantic all the time, when suddenly, I heard a faint voice calling back. I was so startled to hear it after waiting so long I jerked hard on Sulamon’s reins, and he turned his head sharply to look at me, as if wondering if I’d gone crazy. Maybe I had and this was just my imagination. I flew around in a wide circle, listening intently and calling out again and again to Talon.

Then I heard it again. A faint voice calling to me and getting a little louder as we traveled in a northerly direction. I called again, “Talon! Where are you?”

Sulamon had heard him too by this time, and he was straining at his harness to reach him.

That’s when I heard the faint answering reply. “I’m here in the trees. I’m all alone in the dark and so hungry. Rylie left me!”

His words almost stopped my breathing, because I knew Rylan would never leave him willingly. Something was badlywrong, and I had to find Talon quickly to see what was happening. “Yell out again and describe what you see around you!”

“Just trees. Should I move out from under them? Rylie told me not to.”

“Yes, move out if you can, so we can see you. Sulamon and I are both searching for you.”

There was a little pause, and then, “I’m here now in the clearing. Can you see me?”

Sulamon had slowed way down, showing me yet again that he did understand at least some of what was being said around him, even though he didn’t always respond.

“Can you fly straight up in the air, Talon? Just fly up if you can and hover. Don’t stray from where you last saw Rylan.”

“I’ll try.”

There was another little pause and then Sulamon made a sound deep in his throat and began flying faster. I could hear Talon’s voice in my head, much louder now.

“I see you!”

His golden scales were a small speck in the distance, but we could see the faintest glimmer of him now in the scant light of the stars. “Wait there for us. Don’t fly away from where you are!” These trees were so plentiful, and the forest so thick, I was afraid we might lose the spot where Talon had last seen Rylan. Wherewashe? What had gone wrong, forcing him to leave Talon? I was frantic with worry.

---