Chapter 2: Allies & Enemies
My eyes grow heavy, even as the sun shines down on me. But there’s no point in trying to sleep—not perched awkwardly on the top of Astralux as I am, clinging to her spines.
“I know you don’t want to talk too much about the bond,” I say, “but can you tell me where the Wards are?”
Astralux nods her head. “We live in the mountains to the north, the Wintersong Mountains.”
I’ve heard of these mountains before. “Isn’t that where people say it can sound like someone is singing?”
“Yes! It’s because of the way the wind blows between some of the peaks. It’s a bit more like chimes, but I like it all the same,” Astralux says.
“Chimes?”
Astralux looks back at me with one of her beautiful dark blue eyes. “You’ve never heard chimes before? They’re…well, I guess I’ll have to show you when we get to Adytol. That’s the city-state where the Wards reside.”
“What’s a city-state?” I ask.
“We are essentially our own country, but there is no other city that the Wards govern, so Adytol stands as the sole city of our ‘state,’ our country,” Astralux says.
I find myself impressed by how well Astralux speaks, considering how massive of a mouth she has, plus all of her sharp teeth. “How big is Adytol?” I ask.
“I would estimate that there are about 5,000 civilian people there,” Astralux says. “Give or take a couple hundred. I haven’t looked at the latest census, to be honest.”
5,000 people? That was a lot more than I was expecting. Somehow I had it in my mind that this was going to be a very small town with a couple of dragons flying around. Like Inizion with dragons. The thought makes me smile at first, imagining my small hometown with a massive dragon flying around, frightening the few sheep and cattle into running in circles. Then I remember Pesokvglazu’s arrival, probably the first dragon to visit Inizion ever, and how that went. I sigh.
“As far as dragons go, there’s currently seven of us that are a part of the Wards, and five that aren’t. Not officially.”
Twelve. Twelve dragons. Having seen three, I can’t even imagine twelve all living in the same area. Between that and 5,000 civilian people, I begin to think that Adytol must be huge.
“And who leads the Wards?” I ask.
“Ward Veremund and Kalteratem,” Astralux says, her tone full of respect and admiration. I can tell that she thinks highly of them.
“And, Vladykar Malyncor is the leader of the Vladykars,” I say. “With…does he have a dragon?”
“Noxmalum,” Astralux growls.
“How many Vladykars are there?” I ask.
“There’s at least eight known pairs, but Veremund and Kalteratem think there might be more,” Astralux says. “However, I don’t think any of us realized that they also had dragons without riders like Saurentais. Which means they’re probably grooming a human to bond with him, too. More Vladykars.” She grumbles under her breath.
I don’t really know what else to ask, especially since I’m trying not to ask about dragon bonding. Foggy with weariness, sorrow, and shock, I stare off at the bright forests around us, my eyes tired of being able to see so much more and so much farther than I’ve ever seen before. My legs start to slide down the side of Astralux’s body, and I pull my feet back up.
“If we can find one of these tribes,” Astralux says, “we should see about purchasing even a makeshift saddle. I can’t imagine you’re that comfortable balancing at the top of my back.”
“No,” I say. “But I don’t have any money.”
Astralux slows, sighing. “I forgot. Maybe we can do something for them.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know,” Astralux snaps. “I’m a dragon—I’m pretty sure there’s a few things they would appreciate my help with.”
I flinch at her tone and run my fingers over the pale white six-point star on the top of my right hand, which stands out against my dark skin. It feels a bit like a scar, although it has a slight shimmer to it and looks nothing like a scar.
“I’m sorry,” Astralux huffs. Her gait slows a little, and she glances back at me before continuing to wind her way through the trees. “I haven’t slept in days. And, I wasn’t sleeping well prior to that.”
Concerned, I reach out and touch the scales of the back of her neck. “Have you been fleeing from the Vladykars for a while?”
Astralux nods without looking back. “I’m exhausted. And I hate walking like this.” She looks up at the sky longingly.
Me, I’m rather glad not to be flying. My first experiences weren’t pleasant, and in almost every case the flight ended with me falling off, and my legs getting torn up by Astralux’s scales. But I decide not to say anything. No reason to complain about the very thing Astralux is longing for. Plus, I can appreciate the fact that flying would help us to avoid getting found by the Vladykars. And that’s something I’m all for.
A strange scent fills my nostrils, and I sniff at the air. It’s like the smell of dog, but not quite the same. I’ve never smelled anything like it before. “Do you smell that?” I ask.
Astralux sniffs at the air. “That’s bear.”
“I can smell bears?!” I exclaim. My immediate, next thought: “There are bears in these woods?!”
Astralux chuckles. “The bond is pretty potent, as far as increasing your sense of smell goes. But you’ve got nothing to worry about as far as bears go. Actually, bear meat is pretty good.” She peers between the trees. “Maybe we can find lunch.”
I’ve helped hunt animals before for food—just about everyone in Inizion learns how—but I don’t like it. I favor eating fruits and vegetables when I can, preferring chickpeas and lentils to meat for protein. Nonetheless, my stomach grumbles in response, loudly declaring that it hasn’t been fed since dinner last night.
Astralux’s stomach grumbles in response, and she smirks. “You and me both.” Now she comes to a stop, sniffing at the air and at the ground before slinking between the trees. “Luckily, with your fire magic, you can at least cook your food.” She glances at me when I flinch. “What?”
“I don’t like to talk about my magic,” I whisper.
“You’re a strange one, Estelle.” Astralux is now on the hunt, her fist-sized nostrils at the end of her muzzle shifting in and out as she follows the bear’s scent. But she pauses to talk to me. “You seem afraid of your gift. Even though it was granted to you at birth. Right?”
“Right,” I say. “But magic’s not a good thing. In Amenyl,” I add. Maybe our different upbringings have affected how we view this subject, so I think how best to explain this. “In Amenyl, mentioning that you have magic is a good way to get yourself killed, or imprisoned for life.”
“What?!” Astralux stops and turns her head around completely to look at me, her angled eyes even larger than usual as she stares at me. “Even those that Ariadna grants the gift to?”
I shrug. “It doesn’t matter how you got the magic, although it would probably be even worse if you acquired the magic from Anieros. My mom’s pretty sure that my magic is why my blood parents abandoned me.”
Astralux’s eyes fill with tears and she nuzzles my head. “I’m sorry, Estelle. Your country is afraid of magic.” She continues on her hunt, but I hear her hum as if in thought, the sound rumbling deep in her throat. “And then you wield fire.”
“Exactly. While I can use it to, say, build a fire, most uses of fire are harmful.” I play with Astralux’s spine in front of me, noticing that it bends ever so slightly. Perhaps it’s to make sure that in the event that she lies on them, they don’t break. “I would love to be able to cast light though!”
Astralux gives a snort. “At least for a dragon, it’s one of the most useless breaths.”
“Is that what you call it?” I ask. “A breath?”
“Yes. We ‘breathe’ an element unique to each of us. Something that we’re born with.” Astralux goes quiet, sniffing at the air.
The bear’s scent is really strong, and I look around, wondering where it is. There’s a huff of air, followed by a growl, and Astralux and I both look off and to our right to see a brown-furred bear under an outcropping. It backs up at the sight of Astralux, baring its teeth. But it’s obvious that it’s afraid.
Astralux snaps her head forward, her long, slightly curved fangs closing over the bear’s head and neck. It brings up a claw to scratch at her, but she twists, throwing its body sideways, and I cringe as I hear a definitive crack. The bear’s body goes limp, and Astralux drops it—like that, it’s dead.
“Do you have a favorite part?” Astralux asks.
I shake my head. “I haven’t eaten bear. Based on other animals, I’m sure a shoulder, leg, or arm is plenty for me.”
Astralux rips off the bear’s entire right arm and sets this aside. “Maybe make your fire close to that outcropping?” She nods her head to the shaded area where the bear had been. “I know you need to cook your meat, but we really don’t want to be spotted, so we need to hide the fire as best as possible.”
I slide down, staggering when my worn boots land in the soft, leaf-covered mossy ground. Gathering sticks and small branches, I build this near the outcropping, as far under without being worried about smoking myself out. Astralux, in the meantime, shakes the bear’s body out, tearing it up and getting rid of some of the less desirable and inedible parts before she digs in, her teeth ripping through with ease.
Working as a medical assistant with my mom, I’ve seen my fair share of blood and wounds. In fact, we’ve even tended to people and sometimes livestock or pets that were attacked by wolves and coyotes. Once, a bear attacked a herd of cattle. I’m not squeamish about blood—although with my enhanced sense of smell, I do gag a little as I skewer the bear arm. I just don’t like death. It reminds me that Zoi is a world tainted by evil, and until Ariadna descends onto the world once again, it will remain that way, in a constant struggle between Ariadna and Anieros.
I raise up my right hand, summoning the power that burns inside me. A blast of yellow flames explodes over the twigs and branches I’ve formed into a small tent, setting it aflame. I’d found lots of dead plants, so it takes to the fire well. The air fills with burnt oak and another scent I’ve never known before.
With the fire going I turn, looking to see if I can find anything in the way of edible vegetation. Happily, I find some wild asparagus, clover, and fireweed, and even a couple of cherries nearby that I suspect are what drew the bear to this area in the first place. Gathering them up, I bring it all back, cleaning the vegetables in a small trickling stream nearby.
As I work, I glance up at the blue sky above, listening to birds chirping. It feels so peaceful that I almost forget that there is a house-sized, iridescent-white scaled dragon lying nearby, nibbling on the remaining meat she can get from the bear she’d caught. I watch Astralux, amazed at how she reminds me of a large cat or dog, but has the intelligence of a person. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to just look at her, and notice how her spines run all the way to the tip of her tail, where one long one extends out. That’s different than the spikes Pesokvglazu and Saurentais had. I dimly recall Astralux whipping her tail, using the spine like a weapon. I want to ask how common this is, but I don’t even know if they’re called spines, or how to phrase my question.
In fact, in a certain way, it’s a bit of a comfort to work on preparing a meal and pretend that I’m just taking an extended trip from Inizion. I close my eyes as I wash the vegetables and berries, imagining Mom at home, helping the new parents Barbara and Maxwell with Scott.
But it isn’t long before I remember the Klevorian soldiers marching into Inizion, dragging people from their homes and setting the wooden and straw buildings on fire. Or Vladykar Lochan and Pesokvglazu leading the soldiers, Vladykar Lochan demonstrating his ability to turn water into sand. Vladykar Lochan stabbing Mom with his sword, just to prove that he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. I drop the bear leg into the fire. A tear rolls down my cheek.
Tamara Rivers 
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