Page 5 of Dragon Valley
She screeched an agreement, making a sharp turn back toward the barrier. Her cry echoed off the hills and some people on the ground turned around and looked up. But we were already back in the clouds like ghosts who had given their first warning.
* * *
Rhazel, our clan’s chief and the father of Azel and Azaria, sat sternly on his dragon, Black Malak, a massive obsidian beast that looked like smoke itself. Azaria and Azel sat on their dragons on either side of him, with Azel shooting me a look of,you’re late.
All of our clan’s Riders joined them in a tight formation, mounted on their dragons and dressed impeccably in our ceremonial armor. Scales, teeth and claws of dragons long dead adorned their shoulders, arms and chests in dazzling, iridescent colors. My own outfit had a few scales taken from my mother’s armor, before all her belongings were burned with her body. They were the metallic green plates sewn into my shoulders and I treasured them.
It had been nearly a century since Riders actually rode dragons into battle. These days, the armor was primarily brought out for festivals and ceremonies. And now, the incredibly rare occasion we had to show off our prowess to outsiders.
“Nadiyah!” Chief Rhazel barked.
“Yes, Chief,” I said, lowering my head respectfully. Dusa bowed her head as well to show submission to his dragon.
“We’re all waiting for you,” he snapped. “This isn’t the time to spy on the outsiders from the sky.”
“I’m sorry, Chief. I was just curious.” I walked Dusa to my place behind Azel and waited patiently.
“It may be advantageous for us to be late, father,” Azaria said, shooting a wink at me. “Making them wait shows that we’re the ones in power.”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s get this over with,” he grumbled.
I grew up revering Chief Rhazel as an incredible leader, the strongest of all the Riders. In his prime, he had three dragons under his command, which was unheard of. But as I grew older, he grew thinner and more stooped over. His once rich, dark hair turned white and brittle. In recent years, Azaria stepped into many of his leadership duties while her father became more a figurehead. Still, he was our chief until his death and would lead our welcoming party even if he’d rather take a nap.
“Fly low. Let them get a good, clear look at us,” he said, more than a hint of mischief in his voice.
His dragon sprang off, quickly followed by his two children, and then my line. We stayed a good fifty feet above the ground, the mountains rushing past us as we approached the border at breakneck speed.
A cold shiver over my skin told me when we broke past the barrier, and would soon be face-to-face with those not allowed in without our explicit permission. The Dragon God allowed us past the barrier with a touch of cold to let us know we were no longer under the flames of His protection. But He explicitly forbade anyone not of a dragon clan inside, unless they insisted on being burned to a crisp before stepping foot inside the valley.
Chief Rhazel’s dragon came to a low, abrupt descent, kicking up strong gusts of wind as he landed. Black Malak let out a long, warning roar at the outsiders, some of whom fell to their knees with their mouths hanging open in awe, while others ran screaming toward the back of their massive, swarming colony.
I couldn’t help but giggle at the cries and screams as my line flew ahead, circling low over everyone’s heads before turning sharply to fall back and land in our place behind Chief Rhazel and his progeny. It was every bit a performance and we played it up as much as we could.
When we all landed, Chief dismounted and the rest of us followed. We were still a hundred paces from the head of the outsider swarm and kept our tight formation as we walked to greet their leaders.
“Did you notice the shape they’re in?” Azaria whispered back to me as we marched. “They’re skinny. Injured. Lots of them look like they haven’t had a proper bath in weeks.”
“They look like they’re scared of their own shadow too,” I snickered.
She shot me back a stern look before whipping her head to face forward, her long braids nearly hitting me in the face.
What was that look for?I wondered. They really did look like a bunch of frightened rabbits. Dirty, skinny, and not-so-smart rabbits.
Didn’t they know we could lay them to waste with justoneof the dragons we rode on?
A small group of their leaders walked out to meet us. As we got closer, I could see their main leader was a tall, ruggedly handsome man who looked a few years older than me, possibly in his thirties. His short hair and beard were as dark as Azel’s but his skin color was closer to mine, with amber-colored eyes sunk deep in their sockets. I could tell right away those eyes had seen unspeakable atrocities.
Among his companions was a young man with short golden hair like spun straw. It reflected the sun similarly as Dusa’s scales did. I’d never seen hair that color before. His eyes were blue as a midday sky, their sharpness and clarity taking my breath away. Blue eyes were rare among my people. Our legends said blue-eyed people had their eyelids kissed by the Dragon God, and thus carried his vision of the sky in their eyes.
Although the golden-haired man’s handsomeness was more youthful than his commander, his face carried the same haunting tension of seeing more death and horror than any person should.
A pang of guilt gnawed at me as our parties grew closer to each other and more details came into view. I saw bloody bandages. An arm in a sling. A slight limp on another person. I shouldn’t have been so quick to laugh at them. What had these people been through?
Chief Rhazel raised a hand and we came to a stop behind him. The rugged, dark-haired man and his party stopped a few feet away.
“Hello,” the dark-haired man said in a clear, deep voice with a slight bow of his head toward Chief. He placed his fingertips at his own chest. “I’m Captain Aron Slate and these are my lieutenants.” He introduced all four people that walked with him, naming the young golden-haired man as Caden. Those haunting blue eyes locked onto mine for a moment before I jerked my gaze away.
“I’m Chief Rhazel, leader of the sovereign clan of Dragon Valley,” Chief replied and spread his arms wide. “And these are my Dragon Riders.” He didn’t bother with our names. We needed no further introduction than that.
