“Lots of people here speak like that.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” The dragon yawned. “I’d better get some sleep. It’ll be a long flight back. Make sure you leave one of my front saddlebags empty for Lovina.”
“For Lovina?”
“Yes, you want her to come with us, don’t you? She’ll fit nicely in there.”
“Yes, but Pa—”
“Handel’s already convinced him.” Liesar winked and went back to sleep.
§
Spreading her wings, Liesar ascended into the dark sky, sending a rush of cold wind at Tomaaz’s face. Treetops flashed past. He turned to wave to Lofty below, his arm constricted by Pa’s dragon riders’ garb, but Lofty had already been swallowed by the night. They were so high. Going so fast. Behind them, a few isolated torches winked in the dark. That was all there was of Lush Valley settlement. Nothing else was visible in the dark—his lifelong home, his friends—everything had vanished.
A rush of dizziness hit Tomaaz, and he closed his eyes, gripping the saddle. Shards! If this was flying, Pa could have it. There was no way he wanted to feel this rotten all the time. Leaning low in his saddle, he focused on the silver dragon’s neck scales, breathing slowly. He’d never had a great head for heights, but he hadn’t ever felt this bad. Then again, he’d never been this high.
In the saddlebag in front of him, Lovina’s eyes were shut. She’d woken late afternoon for a few sips of broth, then dozed off again. Even in sleep, her face was drawn in pain. Her knees were tucked up to her chest, her splinted arm resting on them. She started fitfully, muttering in her sleep.
Risking further nausea, Tomaaz leaned over and tugged her blanket up.
§
Hans hunched low in the saddle as Handel circled down and landed by the forest near Western Settlement.
“It’s eating at you, not knowing how she is, isn’t it?” melded his dragon.
“Yes, I have to know if Marlies is alive. I’ll be back soon.” Hans jogged off toward Nick’s inn. He passed a few cottages, silent and empty. A door banged in the breeze.
On the outskirts of town, glass from the inn’s shattered windows crunched underfoot. The front door was ripped off its hinges. Hans paused by the hollow doorway. This wrecked carcass had been home to Nick, Esmeralda, little Urs, and any other littlings they’d had. Using his dragon sight, he scoured the inn: no one alive but no dead either.
Sword drawn, he walked through the yard. The eastern wing was charred debris. The stable doors were smashed and the stench of rotten burned horseflesh hung on the air.
Hans melted into the shadows and raced back to the forest. As he barged through the trees to where Handel and Liesar were waiting, Tomaaz jumped up, nocking an arrow.
“It’s only me,” Hans called.
“Phew! You put the breeze up my spine, there.” Tomaaz lowered his bow, then peered at him. “What is it, Pa?”
Was he that easy to read? Hans shook his head. “I went looking for an old friend. I was hoping he had news of your mother …”
“And?”
“His home has been destroyed and he and his family are gone,” muttered Hans. “I can only hope he’s fast enough that tharuks don’t find him.”
Their unspoken question hung thickly in the night air. What about Marlies?
§
After traveling all night, Tomaaz’s backside ached. For the hundredth time, he adjusted Lovina’s covers. At least he could stretch and move. She must be feeling worse, all hunched up in a saddlebag like that. Her face was so pale. The dark rings under her eyes hadn’t improved, even though she’d slept for most of their journey.
For a moment, he compared her to Beatrice. She didn’t have Beatrice’s obvious beauty, but then he doubted she’d spit on anyone either. There was a gentleness about Lovina that surprised him. After so many years of Bill’s abuse, he’d have expected bitterness or resentment.
She stirred. Her eyes opened, meeting his. She tried to talk, but only croaked.
Tomaaz leaned forward, holding the waterskin to her lips. “Here, you must be parched.”
Lovina drank deeply. Wincing, she adjusted her position—no mean feat with only one good arm.
Tomaaz gave her some dried arnica flowers to chew against the pain.
“Look,” Lovina said, gesturing with her healthy arm at the sweeping mountains behind them and the Flatlands stretching miles to distant peaks in the West.
A broad river divided the plains from a forest that spread to the feet of severe snow-clad peaks to the north—it looked like days of flight away. It was so vast and open after living between the Grande Alps.
“It’s quite something,” Tomaaz replied. “I’ve never been beyond the Grande Alps before.”
“I have.” Lovina was silent for a few moments. “But I’ve never seen any of it without fog. Not that I remember, anyway.” She turned to him. “Thank you for giving me clear-mind berries.”
“It was nothing.” Heat crept up Tomaaz’s neck.
“No,” said Lovina. “It’s everything.”
§
They’d been underway for less than a day, when a chill wind rippled in from the west. Shading his eyes, Hans scrutinized the sky. In the distance, above the Terramites, a boiling stew of black cloud was thickening.
“Handel and Liesar, we may have to take shelter.” Years of being away from Dragons’ Hold, and now, when they were only two days’ flight away, they’d have to stop. “Or should we fly on, through the storm?”
“Easy, Hans,” Handel cautioned. “The girl’s health is delicate.”
“Exactly why we shouldn’t have brought her,” Hans said.
“We have a duty to care for those wronged by Zens,” Handel replied.
Hans sighed. He had no reply to that, and Handel knew it. “Are there any friendly way-stops nearby?”
Liesar answered, “Star Clearing should be fine. It’s only a short flight, and I don’t think our enemies have ransacked it yet. No one
