Warriors were now saddling the green dragon, Sebast, as he crouched to make it simpler for them. Ryan tried to watch in case he needed to do the same thing, but he couldn’t see much from here. Was saddling a dragon noticeably different from a horse? It almost had to be.
Approaching Novir, who stood beside Denir, Ryan said, “So we’ve ridden dragons before, of course. It’s just different across worlds.”
Novir smiled. “Say no more.” He led him toward Brazin, who cooperated by crouching and moving the nearer blue wing back. “You see the saddle is before the wings, of course. These may differ from others, but unlike a horse, dragons can at least tell you how to saddle them, if you must. They know where we are going and will largely take care of direction, but if you must, you can use the four straps to control the flight path. One each left, right, top, bottom. Use two at once as needed and flying straight and level means pulling on the top and bottom at together.”
“Got it.”
“I will lead the way, but they know where the Kirii Cave is, generally.”
“Generally?” That was hardly good enough. What if something happened to Novir?
Novir winked and used a small rope ladder to climb the side of Brazin, settling into the seat and strapping himself into the saddle with a wide belt that he hooked to it once before and behind him. As he started pulling up the ladder, he yelled down. “Of course, I don’t need to tell you to always strap yourself in first in case they decide to take flight. Things like a rope can wait!”
“I just wanted to see if you knew that!” Ryan joked. He wondered what other “obvious” tips he would not think of and learn the hard way. If he fell off a dragon high in the air, would it realize and be able to catch him? Finding out wasn’t appealing.
As Anna went to get a scroll with information about gods from Denir, Ryan walked to Jolian. Was he supposed to pass in front of or behind Brazin? With horses, you avoided going behind unless you put a hand on their rump to let them know you were there. A startled horse had been known to kick and badly wound or even kill a fool. Would a dragon do it by accident, or would Brazin do it to Ryan on purpose? He wasn’t sure what would happen as he neared the giant head, but the blue giant suddenly rose and let them pass under his neck.
“I think you need to go up first,” Ryan said to Anna when she joined him. He took her hand to the rope ladder. “I can be in front for control, if I need it. I’m more used to, well, horses anyway.”
“Yeah,” she muttered, looking apprehensive. But she climbed the ladder and clambered into her seat behind his. Ryan followed, grinning. He hadn’t been this close to a dragon before, except after he’d killed it. The expanding and contracting dragon body as she breathed him feel like he was dreaming, and despite the danger awaiting them, for the moment he didn’t need to face it and marveled at what he was doing.
At the top, he found Anna trying to adjust the straps and so he briefly helped her, figuring it out. A wide belt opened on one side and had to be tightly cinched around the waist. Then two hooks fastened it to the saddle. She had already gotten her feet into two stirrups that were unlike those on a horse in that it firmly attached them to the saddle. This meant no trying to control the dragon with the feet. The stirrups seemed more like another way to brace yourself.
Keeping his weapons out of the way, he soon had himself situated and tested his own security of position, feeling reasonably satisfied, trying to ignore the forty-foot drop to the ground. It being so much worse than falling off a horse made him chuckle nervously. He thought that if he was going to get killed or worse on this quest, at least he was getting one hell of a ride first. He looked over to see Eric helping Matt get seated in the rear spot of Sebast’s saddle, the two of them arguing a little. Jolian shifted beneath him the way horses do, the motions stronger because of her size, and he suddenly wondered if the others might get sick. That would be very un-champion like, puking from the back of a dragon, especially if Eric did it and Matt caught a face full as they flew. At the last minute, he untied his helmet and put it on for some protection from the wind. Or maybe it was for Anna behind him.
Jolian’s neck twisted as she turned her enormous head back to him. “Are you ready, Pride of Andor?” Her voice boomed but sounded similar to when she was in human form.
“I was born ready,” he said.
“Good.”
With no other warning, Jolian took several giant steps forward, smote her wings once, and lifted off just enough to get past the cliff edge. And then they dove over it, the feeling like the first incredible drop of a rollercoaster. He heard Anna scream behind him like girls always did at the amusement park, but then Jolian straightened out and turned into the crevasse to soar just below its top. Wind buffeted Ryan’s chest in a steady rush. The great snap of leathery wings was intermittent as they glided. Trees roared by on either side of them, above the canyon, and white water splashed hundreds of feet below among rocks, more trees, and a brief shoreline beside the river, the occasional four-legged animal startled into fleeing at the sight of them hurtling by. Jolian’s head lifted a bit and the amount
