land somewhere safe, that was fine. He slumped over Snow's shoulders and let his mind wander through the memories that had brought him here. He thought of Sollos and of the dragons that had burned his home. Of Snow burning the alchemists out of their caves. Of Nadira. Of Rider Semian, whose sword had ended Sollos. Of his own shrieks of rage. Of sitting astride Snow as she hurtled through the air. He dreamed of the wind in his face, a great, howling wind…
They were falling out of the sky. He blinked awake and tried to move, and the wind almost ripped him out of his harness. Snow had tucked in her wings. She was falling straight down like a monstrous arrow from the heavens, and Sunset was beside her. The black stone landscape of the cliffs was rushing up towards him. Kemir opened his mouth to shout, to scream, anything, but the wind tore his breath away. He couldn't even breathe. hook.
He could barely open his eyes, but now at least he had a proper dragon-rider's helm. He pulled down the visor and looked. The two dragons who'd followed them to the sea were still there and Snow was diving at them.
Breathe! He forced his chest to motion. Breathe! 'What are you doing?'
These ones will be slow and stupid just as you have become, and I am hungry. I do not think there is nuuh food in this sea.
'There are fish.'
I do not think I am well equipped for catching fish.
The ground was coming up. Kemir clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, and then Snow spread out her wings and threw Kemir forward with such force that he hit his head on her scales and knocked himself out. When he came to, Snow had landed. Kemir touched his forehead. His fingers came away bloody. His face was agony. His nose was probably ruined forever.
You knew what I meant to do, chided Snow. You should have been ready.
'I was ready.'
Obviously not ready enough. She had a dragon-rider in her mouth. As Kemir pulled his groggy thoughts together, she crunched on the knight and swallowed him in one gulp, armour and all.
'Stupid dragon, impatient as ever. He was probably poisoned, you know.' He could hear whimpering and wailing from somewhere.
No, he was not. I asked before I ate him.
'How very civilised. And what makes you think that whatever he told you was the truth?' Definitely whimpering. Someone was still alive, begging for mercy. Kemir peered down, trying to see the ground below Snow's bulk.
He did not tell me anything with his words, Kemir, except how terrified he was. But I saw in his mind. No secret joy, no hidden victory. Only the understanding of certain death and his own futility. He had not taken poison like the ones before. Snow licked her lips. Bitter. I prefer them better fed.
'I'm sure the others will taste better.' Two dragons meant four riders, didn't it? His head was throbbing badly. And his nose. Most of him, in fact.
I barely noticed. These dragons carry food and water too. You should take it.
'Do I have to?' He didn't feel so hungry now, only sleepy.
There will be no more for many days. I will take your guidance, Kemir. I must wait for these dragons to awaken, and so we will fly out over the sea where none of your kind will find us. They will look for us but they will find nothing. We will seek land again far away from here. Until then we will starve.
'Great.' The effort of getting off Snow's back and rummaging around the other dragons for food seemed impossible. Snow might as well have asked him to scale the cliffs.
It is fortunate that I fed so well before this chase began, Kemir, is it not?
'Whatever.' Wearily, Kemir unstrapped himself. He put his hand to his head again. The wound was still bleeding, and he had a lump the size of an egg right between his eyes. 'What do you make your scales out of?'
Whatever we eat, Kemir.
He turned around to slide off Snow's shoulder and staggered as he landed, dizzy and close to collapse. If he was really lucky, one of the dragons would catch him with an idle swish of its tail, shatter every bone in his body and send him flying over the edge of the cliff. Where the sea would then smash what was left of him into a sticky mess to be slowly eaten by crabs.
He sat down heavily and rubbed his head again.
'I hate you,' he grumbled. Then he saw that Snow had a last rider trapped under her front claw. Still alive.
Take the food and water, Kemir. Eat, drink and sleep.
Kemir glanced at the trapped rider. 'What about that one?'
We are bringing this one with us. This one is useful.
'Useful?' Kemir moved closer. 'How?' He stopped. The dragon-rider had lost his helm. Her helm. Long hair straggled out between Snow's claws. He caught a glimpse of her face. Terrified.
This one knows where other dragons may be found.
Kemir blinked. The dragon-rider's eyes caught his. Pleading. He'd seen that look too many times before. It made him hate her.
'Give her to me and I'll make her talk right enough. Then I can tell you everything you need. You can have her back when I'm done if you must.' As Snow lifted her claw, he stepped forward, pulled the dragon-rider to her feet and threw her down again. Hard. Then he was on her. He punched her several times in the face, bloodied his knuckles, but somehow that wasn't anywhere near enough; he started ripping off her armour, tearing at the clothes underneath, swearing and screaming at her while Snow watched over his shoulder. The dragon-rider didn't even fight back that much. She snuggled, but most of her whimpers were pain. Snow had already broken one of her legs, maybe done more. He had her armour mostly off, was all ready to tear open the soft flying shirt she wore underneath when the dragon stopped him dead.
Why?
'What?'
Why, Kemir?
Revenge, that was why. Revenge for all the men and women raped and enslaved by the mountain king's riders. It wasn't about lust or desire or need, just cold and bloody and vicious revenge. Mostly what he wanted was to rip her to pieces with his bare hands. Not for anything he knew she'd done, but simply for what she was.
You see, Kemir. Do you see now? That your kind are all the same? That there are no differences between you.
Kemir spun around to glare at Snow. 'Yes, there are! These riders come and-' He wasn't allowed to finish.
A human is a human. Some are taller, some are shorter, some are darker, some are lighter, but on the inside do not tell me you are different. This one is useful. When this one has told us what it knows, it will no longer be useful. Then you may mate with her in any way you wish; but for now you will stop. For now you will leave this one alone. Eat. Drink. And then we will leave.
Angrily, Kemir did as he was told. When he was done, Snow gently gripped the rider in her claws and took to the air again, and the other dragons followed. It was true that Kemir felt a lot better for having some bread and water inside him. He had no idea where they were going and his head and his nose still hurt like buggery. But they were alive. The King of the Crags had come after them and they'd bloodied his nose too. Nine riders dead, one rider and three dragons taken. That was a start, wasn't it?
He closed his eyes. He tried not to think about the town Snow had burned. He tried not to think about the people who had lived there: the men who had simply wanted to feed their families, the women who only wanted to see their sons grow into men, the children who-
The children who might have one day grown to be alchemists, poisoning my kind with their potions? The women who bear dragon-rider sons? The men who build their castles and forge their swords and harvest their food? Do not say they have done nothing, Kemir.
They sheltered under the wings of the dragon-lords and in turn the dragon-lords stood on their backs. Perhaps that ought to have been enough. Perhaps Snow was right. Or perhaps not. Perhaps Snow was wrong and they really had done nothing. Either way, Nadira was not one of them. You shouldn't have eaten her.
And you should not have tried to force yourself on this female, Kemir, yet you did. Why? Because it is the essential naturt of your kjnd, that is why. You are what you are and so am I.
The dragon-rider. He'd almost forgotten that he'd tried to rape her. Would have raped her if Snow hadn't stopped him. Vaguely he knew that it would have been wrong. Sollos would have stopped him too. But somehow he couldn't find any feelings of regret. No remorse. Not much of anything. When the dragons had finished with her, he'd
