Page 26 of Dragon Valley
He rubbed his jaw, still conflicted. “Come with me?” His eyes flickered over the spikes on her back. “I gather it’s nothing like riding a horse.”
“She won’t let you fall,” I promised. “But yes, I’ll join you. Climb up like this.”
I showed him where I placed my feet on the joints in her wings to step up and straddle the base of her neck. He followed suit, settling into place behind me.
“Grab a spike or hold onto me,” I instructed, leaning my head back carefully. His warm, solid presence at my back sent a thrill through me, and not just because we were about to fly. I didn’t want to lean my head on his chest, that seemed like too much contact in this position.
But after shifting around to find a comfortable spot, his large hands slid tentatively around my waist.
“Is this okay?” his breath fanned my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“Are you comfortable?”
“Think so.”
I patted Dusa’s neck. “Let’s go, Dus!”
Caden squeezed me tighter as she pushed off into the air and beat her powerful wings to gain altitude.
“Just lean into it, don’t fight it,” I told him. “The ascent and descent is the rockiest part but once we’re up, it’s a very smooth ride.”
“It is a lot like riding a horse, actually.” His grip on me and his whole body relaxed. “Gods be damned, this is amazing.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet!” I yelled, the wind whipping through my wild hair and surely getting into Caden’s face. “Dusa, let’s show him our cliff!”
She screeched in reply and I smiled. We had been thinking the same thing.
Caden marveled at the views as we flew over the encampment, the streams, rivers, and herds of animals so small down below us. His childlike excitement and fascination warmed my heart. I never got tired of seeing my world from this perspective, even though I saw it every day for the past ten years.
As we approached the clan village, Dusa ascended above the clouds to prevent anyone from seeing us. Just the sight of two riders on one dragon would be enough to cause an outrage, let alone if one of them was an outsider.
The moon hung bright and full, casting all three of us in a pale, silver light. Caden’s grip on my waist tightened, sending a hitched breath through my chest.
“I can’t tell you how beautiful it is up here,” he said in an awed whisper. “I feel like we’re among the Gods. This is absolutely surreal.”
“It’s just another night ride,” I told him with a smile. “But it is beautiful and I love it more than anything. This feeling is why I was born to be a Rider.”
Dusa took us on a slow, gentle descent until we reached our cliff, where we landed on the rocky plateau.
“Good girl, Dus. You’re getting stronger.” I patted her neck as I slid down. We flew from the southern to the northern end of the valley in nearly an hour. Usually such a journey was taxing on the young dragon but tonight, her breathing wasn’t even labored.
“All the rabbit treats for you tomorrow,” Caden promised her as he followed me, sliding awkwardly down her smooth scales.
She snorted happily and pinned him against her wing with her rough, affectionate headbutts.
“Come look at this.” Once Dusa released him, I grabbed his hand before I could think twice and pulled him toward the opposite end of the cliff. “There’s Dragon’s Peak.” I pointed out the towering, dormant volcano where the Dragon God was born from the molten lava when the world was formed.
“When was the last time it erupted?” Caden asked, his voice filled with awe at the massive black peak.
“Four hundred years ago was when it was last recorded,” I said. “It’s been quiet ever since. Some say it’ll erupt again to mark a new age in our history. And that,” I pointed out past the mountain range to where the land flattened out into a grassland as far as the eye could see, “is what I look at every time I come here. The outside world, where no dragon or Rider has gone for over twenty years.”
“My village is out that way,” Caden said softly. He placed a large, warm hand on the nape of my neck to gently turn my head. “Keep going in that direction and you’ll find it. At least, you could a few years ago.”
I wanted to comfort the sorrow in his voice but didn’t know how. His home could still be standing or it could be a smoldering ruin.
My eyes flickered down to the mountain pass below us. My mother died somewhere down there, but it didn’t feel appropriate to point out. Her murderer ran away, supposedly back to his own village. I wondered if he and Caden were from the same place.
“I’m sorry,” I said, although I didn’t know what for. “When I’m out there, I’ll find it and let you know how it is.”
