“Fire,” I say.
“Fire.” Malik, the leader of the tribal people who have taken Astralux and me captive—and yet, treating us like we were guests—looks back at the flames on the pile of sticks between us. “Fire,” he repeats.
I nod, smiling. Since this morning, Malik and I have been slowly trying to understand each other. It’s hard to have any actual conversations, since we’re still learning the words it takes to describe the world around us. But between that, the gift of animal skin clothes like what these tribal people wear, and being provided plenty of food, it’s gone a ways to calming my nerves.
A man comes rushing into our midst, hurriedly calling to Malik. At the same time, I hear a throaty roar from beyond the animal skin tents all around us, and I rise to my feet.
Malik glances at me. “Astralux,” he says.
“Astralux,” I agree. I hurry alongside Malik, a crowd of people all dressed in animal skins following us with whispers.
Rounding a couple of tents, I sigh in relief at the sight of the white-scaled dragon awake at last. Astralux’s vibrant, dark blue eyes are glaring down at the tribal men all around her, her long teeth showing as she growls, struggling against the ropes strapped all around her.
“When I get free,” Astralux is saying, her voice deep but still feminine to my ears, “I’m going to tear you all—”
“—Astralux!” I say.
Astralux’s head shifts under the ropes so that she can see me. “Estelle!” she exclaims in relief. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I hurry to her side, wrapping my arms around her mouth as she leans toward me. I rub the small pale blue nub at the tip of her nose. “I was worried about you.”
“Why am I tied down?” Astralux asked.
“I don’t know,” I say. “These people are nice, but we can’t understand each other. Their leader’s name is Malik.” I point, and the tribal leader steps forward.
“Malik?” Astralux says, her tone suspicious as she eyes the man.
“Astralux,” the man says, pointing at the dragon.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Astralux says.
“You’ll want to nod,” I whisper.
“Oh.” Astralux gives a single nod.
Malik points at me. “Fire.”
I chuckle. “They can’t get over my fire magic.”
The corners of Astralux’s mouth turn up. “I can’t either.”
Snickering, I pull at the ropes on Astralux, watching Malik.
Malik crosses his arms, frowning up at Astralux. He murmurs to a couple of tribal men around him, and they respond, talking quietly.
“Why won’t they let me go?” Astralux demands.
I pat Astralux’s neck. “I think they’re afraid of you,” I say at last. “They did give both of us medicinal paste, for our wounds, so I don’t think they mean us harm. Stay calm.”
Astralux tries to look at her right wing, where she’d been injured, but she can’t move enough to see it. Sighing, she sets her head down on the ground. “This is humiliating.”
“Just take it easy,” I say.
“So they haven’t hurt you?” Astralux asks.
“No.”
Astralux’s deep blue eyes look back at Malik. “Okay,” she murmurs.
At last, Malik gives a nod, speaking louder. To my surprise, one of the tribal men comes toward me, grabbing my arm.
Astralux growls, but I can do nothing—at least, nothing that wouldn’t cause a fight—as I’m dragged back to Malik’s side. Then the other tribal men go forward and begin to undo the stakes around Astralux. Despite how irritated she looks, the dragon does wait until the men step back before lifting herself up, shaking off the ropes. She peers at her wing, and I see amazement on her face as she spreads her right wing. There’s only the slightest twinge of pain in her wing, which I feel on the right side of my back.
Astralux then looks back at Malik. She “sits,” with her front two legs propping her up. “Thank you,” she says. There’s still a bit of suspicion to her tone, but at least she’s trying.
Malik smirks and says something to the tribal men around them. They all chuckle, although I don’t know what they’re laughing about.
“Estelle?” Astralux says. But she’s watching Malik, her brow still furrowed over her eyes.
Malik glances at me. Then he ushers at the tribal men holding my arm, and I’m released. Beaming, I walk to Astralux, holding out my arms. To my surprise, Astralux wraps her head around me, giving me a hug, and I hug her neck. She starts to bare her teeth at the tribal people and then stops, as if catching herself. With a heavy sigh she lifts her head up, sitting again.
“What now?” I ask Astralux.
“We should get going. If you haven’t seen Pesokvglazu or Saurentais yet, I can’t imagine it will be long before they search this area,” Astralux says.
Disappointed, because I’ve rather enjoyed my time with these people, I turn to Malik. I point at myself and Astralux, and then I point at the sky to the north.
“You’re asking him for permission?” Astralux asks in disbelief.
“We’re kind of his guests,” I say.
Astralux snorts. “Guests? You mean prisoners.”
“Either way,” I say, “it would be rude to just leave without at least ‘asking.’”
The dragon rolls her large eyes. “Whatever.”
Amused by Astralux’s attitude, I look at Malik again, once more gesturing for us to leave.
Crossing his arms, Malik once more talks with the tribal people around him. Then he holds up a finger to me, while a couple of people head off.
“What’s going on?” Astralux asks.
“Easy,” I say. “Maybe they want me to set more things on fire. They’ve been asking me to do that all day.”
“And…you’re going to do it? I’ve been asking you to set things on fire since I first met you and you wouldn’t!” Astralux smirks, indicating she doesn’t mean me ill. Her demeanor has immediately brightened. “Why do you like them better than me?”
I smile, both amused by the dragon’s instant change in attitude, and feeling a bit sheepish. “I guess in this case it wasn’t used to harm anyone.”
The tribal people return, and I stare in surprise as they bring forward a couple of bags that they set at my feet. Peering in them, I’m stunned to see a large quantity of food, as well as a change of clothes.
“Thank you!” I exclaim.
Malik then holds out a stick to me, a grin on his face. Laughing, I step up and hold out my hand. Summoning the energy inside me to my palm, the tribal people gasp with delight—like they had all day—when a small yellow flame bursts over the end of the stick, catching it on fire.
“Fire,” Malik says cheerfully.
“Fire,” I say.
Astralux chuckles. “That’s all? If that’s what they wanted, they should have just asked.”
“I think it was a lot of misunderstanding,” I say. I pick up the packs, slinging these over my shoulder, before awkwardly clambering onto Astralux’s back. I still have to perch at the very edge of her back, in between her long slender back spines, and I set the bags behind my back, propping myself up.
“Thank you,” I say again to Malik.
“Thank you,” Astralux says as well, her tone much softer.
Malik gives us a small bow of his head. I return it, as does Astralux. Then the dragon turns and slowly walks around the edge of where the tribe’s tents are, giving them lots of space. Astralux makes her way through the grassy opening to the edge of the forest, and I wave at Malik and the rest of his tribe just before they disappear between the trees.
“Well, you were right, Estelle,” Astralux suddenly says.
I face forward to see Astralux peering at me with one of her eyes. “Right about what?”
“I got too nervous and attacked, before we knew whether they were friend or foe.” Astralux heaves a sigh as she makes her way through the trees. “That’s even part of the code of being a Ward—to never attack until you’re certain that it’s an enemy. But I’m on edge.”
“You’ve been through a lot, it sounds like,” I say. “It’s okay.”
“But I shouldn’t let everything that has befallen me be an excuse to act rashly,” Astralux says. She pauses and stretches out her wings again, and then resumes walking. “I probably shouldn’t fly just yet. Maybe tomorrow. But my wing feels a lot better.”
“I’m glad,” I say.
“I might even try to call for help,” Astralux says. “Maybe one of the Wards will be out scouting—”
Astralux and I start in surprise when we hear screams echo through the trees. Faintly, I thought I heard—or felt, I’m not sure which—a rumble.
“That was from behind us,” Astralux says.
“The tribe!” I gasp.
Astralux groans. But then she turns and hurries back the way we’d come. Just before rushing out into the opening, Astralux peeks between the trees, and I lean to the side on her back, looking around. And my heart skips a beat.
The sun glints off the light bronze scales of Pesokvglazu. He’s terrorizing the tribal people, swooping around them. Whenever someone tries to escape, he breathes sand that comes pulsing out, ripping up the ground and demolishing tents. Meanwhile, Vladykar Lochan has a long, thin blade to Malik’s neck. Though it’s been a couple of days since I saw him last, the left half of the Vladykar’s fair-skinned face is still a blistering red from where I’d blasted him with his fire, his sandy-brown hair charred and white on that side too.
“You don’t seem to understand,” Vladykar Lochan is saying. “Estelle? Astralux?”
Malik’s dark eyes narrow on Vladykar Lochan. He shakes his head.
“No?” Vladykar Lochan smirks. Then he slams Malik’s head into the ground before pointing his blade at his neck again, blood dripping down from a gash on Malik’s forehead. “How about now?”
Tears fill my eyes. “We have to help them,” I whisper.
Astralux turns her gaze to me. “We almost died last time,” she says, her tone unafraid but solemn. “Pesokvglazu and Vladykar Lochan are very skilled. We have little chance against them.”
“I know. But…I can’t run away again.” Emotion clogs my throat, making it difficult to speak for a second. “I abandoned my Mom, and my hometown. I can’t do that again.”
Astralux looks back out. She spreads her wings once more, stretching them. “Perhaps we can try to lead them away. I just don’t know that I’m healed enough to be able to outpace Pesokvglazu.”
“I believe in you,” I say.
Astralux gives me a grin, her deep blue eyes flashing. “Then let’s have us a battle. Ready?”
I slide the bags gifted to me from the tribal people off—if our last encounter was any indication, this is going to be a heck of a ride. And, lessening the weight will probably help Astralux. “Ready,” I say.
Astralux roars and charges through the forest. Despite the distance, she’s fast enough, jumping over fallen logs and tents, to collide into Pesokvglazu just as the dragon turns to face us. Pesokvglazu yelps as Astralux claws at his side, trying to get her mouth over his neck.
“There you are!” Vladykar Lochan tosses Malik aside, the tribal leader’s face bloodied. He unhooks a crossbow from his side, his brown eyes taking me in. “I knew I smelled your sweet scent here, Estelle.”
I lift my right hand. Vladykar Lochan fires at Astralux and then rolls to the side, clearly expecting me to attack him. But I blast fire out at the black-vaned bolt as it comes zipping through the air, and it fizzles before striking Astralux, its iron head only piercing her neck a little.
In the meantime, Pesokvglazu has turned his head to look at Astralux. He opens his mouth, and Astralux dodges to the side as he blasts sand straight up into the air, where it shoots up before raining down on us all. I sneeze as it patters all over me, squinting so that it doesn’t get into my eyes.
But then Pesokvglazu stands on his hind legs and spreads his wings.
“Astralux, shield your eyes!” I shout.
Astralux turns just as the other dragon flaps. Sand whips all around us, and I cling to Astralux, keeping my eyes shut, as she suddenly begins sprinting. I don’t know where she’s going, or if she can even see, but I trust that she knows what she’s doing. She’s a skilled fighter.
I cry out as I feel a sharp pain in the back of Astralux’s right leg. Squinting my eyes open, I spot a black-vaned bolt sticking in her calf.
“Stay low!” Astralux shouts. Then she dives into the forest, running with full speed in spite of the pain of the bolt. My admiration for Astralux only increases. The pain is so bad I’m holding my leg, even though all I’m doing is lying on her back in-between her spines.
I look back to see, much to both my relief and terror, that Vladykar Lochan and Pesokvglazu are trailing after us. “Good news,” I say over the crashing of the foliage as Astralux runs. “We got their attention. Bad news—we got their attention.”
Astralux laughs heartily as another bolt thuds into a nearby tree.
Tamara Rivers 
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