Elves—even Jermayan—rarely did anything directly. Kellen knew that though this was partly meant to reassure him as to the extent of Elven military strength, it was also meant as a subtle rebuke for his criticism of Elven strategy earlier.
Still, he wasn’t going to turn down the chance to ride a dragon. And he
“I thank you for this great honor,” Kellen said in his best courtly style. “And I just know that Ancaladar will be thrilled at the thought of having another passenger.”
“Dress warmly,” Jermayan warned him. “Ancaladar says that the skies are colder than snow.”
—«♦»—
THE following day, Ancaladar came to the unicorn meadow to take the children to the Fortress of the Crowned Horns. The day was raw and overcast, but the clouds were high, and no storm beckoned.
As Kellen had seen in his vision of the Great War, when dragon fought dragon in the skies above an Endarkened battlefield, there was a saddle at the base of Ancaladar’s neck, where Jermayan would ride. Kellen would ride behind him there. But for the others, different arrangements had needed to be made. Straps affixed a series of baskets to Ancaladar’s massive sides: eight of them, for the five children, Lairamo, and two companions. Sand was added to some of the baskets, so that each one weighed exactly the same, because balance—so Ancaladar had explained—was the most important thing.
The children were all muffled warmly in furs, and then strapped firmly into their baskets, so that even if Ancaladar chose to fly upside-down (which he assured both Kellen and Jermayan he had no intention of doing) there was no possibility of the children falling out. It took ladders to get them into the baskets, but at the other end, Jermayan would simply have to walk down Ancaladar’s back to free them.
If all went well.
And a trip that would take sennights on the ground would be compressed into less than a day.
Though for the children’s—and their parents‘—sake, Kellen behaved as though this were the most ordinary thing in the world, he couldn’t help feeling a sinking sense of apprehension as he climbed up Ancaladar’s side and took his place behind Jermayan. There was a belt there, fastened to Ancaladar’s harness, and he saw that Jermayan already wore a similar belt buckled tightly around him.
Well, if it was good enough for Jermayan… He strapped himself down, and looked over Ancaladar’s shoulder toward the ground. It was like sitting on the roof of a three-story house… only houses didn’t take flight and soar into the sky.
He knew he’d done far more dangerous things in his life—and more painful ones, too. But not only did this seem to be unnervingly unnatural, it roused the memories of buried ghosts, ghosts hundreds of generations in the past… but also of one particular ghost, who had also borne the name “Kellen,” and who had fought for the Dark, Bonded to a dragon.
Before he could follow those bleak thoughts any further, Ancaladar reared up on his hind legs. Kellen heard the children squeal in pleased excitement.
“Hold on,” Ancaladar said quietly.
He spread his great wings with a snap like sails filling with wind. He sprang into the air, slashed down—
It reminded Kellen—almost—of riding Shalkan when the unicorn was running all-out: that bounding gait that involved moments of weightlessness and jarring landings. Only here there were no landings, only moments of weightless falling before the dragon’s great wings bit into the air again. Kellen closed his eyes tightly.
By the time he could bring himself to open them again, Ancaladar was moving smoothly, and the ground was hundreds of feet below. He looked back over his shoulder, and could barely see the green of the ever-blooming Flower Forest. The individual buildings of Sentarshadeen—well hidden even from the ground—were invisible.
“Comfortable?” Jermayan asked. Kellen realized after a moment that the question was directed to Ancaladar. “Nothing binding you anywhere, I hope?”
“Not bad. But don’t make a habit of this,” the dragon replied. He tilted a wingtip slightly, and they began a long curving upward spiral, taking them even higher into the sky.
Soon they were in the clouds themselves. Wet mist covered Kellen’s face, and he could barely see anything at all. Then they were above the clouds, flying in the sunlight.
