Page 128 of Veiled Flames
Zogar’s wings flap strongly, and the motions create wind—strong gusts, followed by sucking that feels as if it’s pulling all the air from my ears. The space Zogar’s been housed in is far bigger than the pens in the enclave’s labyrinth.
You will tell me more details about my people’s prison as soon as we’re across the veil.
“What?” I cry out. “We can’t cross the veil! The Darkness is there. There are demons. I’m not even armed.”
Have no fear, my queen. You are with Zogar.
I have no chance to continue the argument. He lifts into the air, and I hang onto his saddle handles, gripping so tightly my knuckles turn white and my fingers ache, reminding me of everything my body’s gone through to get to this point.
The last time my hands ached like this, I thought I’d tumble from that elevating cage and be crushed on the canyon floor. Atmoments, I felt certain that Zogar would incinerate me, or tear me to shreds with his powerful talons.
I have no desire to hurt you, and you need not grip me so tightly. I have you secured.
We rise higher and higher into the sky, lifting toward the Great Beyond. Tynan told me that his vision changed while upon Xendus, but his description did not do this justice. Roule taught us that dragons can’t see without a rider, but atop Zogar, it’s like I’m perceiving the world through his eyes as well as my own.
Logically, my vision should be blocked by his body, yet I can see the full horizon ahead and far off to both sides. I can even see the ground below us. Only a narrow strip behind isn’t in my field of vision.
His spiked tail swoops from side to side. Watching it appear and disappear helps me understand the dimensions of our mutual blind spot.
To my great relief, Zogar follows my bidding, and instead of flying toward the veil, he heads toward camp. As we soar, I tuck my face behind his massive neck to shield my eyes from the wind, but I’m still able to see, using our combined vision.
He soars directly skyward. I grip the handles more tightly, but it’s amazing how I’m able to remain upright, easily resisting the pull from the ground. I'm fastened to him using a comparatively small part of my body, and a very small part of his, yet it’s as if I have straps around the outside of me too. As if Zogar is wrapped around me, keeping me tightly seated on his natural saddle.
You will never fall from my back, my queen.Not while I live.
My queen. I smile. Saxon and Tynan each gave me pet names, but I like Zogar’s the best. I like how he calls me his queen, even if it’s in jest.
I rarely jest.
Swooping to the side, we drop. The rush of air is exhilarating, and I shout in glee.
He levels out, flying low, about thirty spans above the ground as we pass over the training fields, and riders and candidates shout up from below.
My hearing is enhanced along with my vision. I can’t recognize any of the voices, but it’s clear that no one in the group knows who I am. They’re expressing shock that someone has mounted the behemoth.
Zogar rumbles beneath me.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “I’ll try very hard to avoid that word.”
Where are my people imprisoned?
It takes me a few seconds to realize what he’s asking. “I don’t know the exact location of the matched dragons, but those unmatched, the ones who don’t yet have riders, are this way.”
I look in the direction of the enclaves, and Zogar banks, steering us exactly where I meant him to go. More shouting rises from below, but I ignore it.
We pass over the walls of the enclaves. Dragon handlers and riders shout as they watch us, and as we soar low over the labyrinth of pens, a deep sadness floods me. I felt for the dragons the first time I was here, but now, it’s more clear that the dragons are imprisoned, cramped and trapped and unhappy.They call out to us, and Zogar’s sorrow weighs down my heart, as if it were my own. In fact, I’m not sure how to discern which emotions are his and which are mine.
Rage overtakes the sorrow. The rage is his, and I’m glad we can each feel separately too.
I will free my people. I will punish all those who enslaved them. But first I must regain my full powers.Heheads toward the barrier mountains that separate camp from the veil.
“No! We can’t go that way!”
What do you fear, my queen?
“Demons! They live in the Darkness. You were trapped for four hundred years. I suspect much has changed over that time.” Perhaps there were no demons back then.
He grumbles, as if trying to reach a decision.Tell me more of these demons. If humans never cross the veil, how do you know of them?
