Page 25 of Monsters of Air

I was about to enter hell, but at least I had three dragons with me to face those dangers.

Chapter Nine

Adventures were full of boredom, it seemed.

We walked, and walked, and we kept walking. We walked, and slept, and walked some more. All of that walking left me in my own thoughts for way too long. Early on, my fascination of the forest kept me going. There was too much to see, so many different types of trees that didn’t exist in my corner of Xrotte. Plants, flowers, and even berries that I had tried to eat only for Philit to knock them out of my hand and tell me they were poisonous. After that, I didn’t try to eat anything more than the hardtack bread Ma had packed and the endless line of animals the boys hunted. Even if some of them had been unfamiliar.

All of it was overwhelming, and beautiful. It felt like there was magic in the air, the glittery, buzzing feeling of it coated everything.

The trees had been as massive as I thought when I first saw them. The forest was thick, but not just the trees, the grass, the bushes, the flowers. Everything. The thin path wound through everything like it was a maze, different paths shooting off in different directions.

Each fork in the path was marked by a tall marble pillar that was worn down by wind and rain, the ancient carvings on them nearly washed away.

Philit said it has something to do with the riders journey, but unless the riders journey was deciphering scribbles I didn’t see how it would affect anything.

Even with the stone pillars, the path would still vanish from time to time and leave Philit and I wading through the undergrowth, Zilon and Landers soaring overhead as they tried to find the path.

I don’t know how I would have made it through without the dragons, with or without Da.

Even when the path fell away, Philit confidently moved through the forest like it was his own home, if his own home was a place that wanted to kill him. After the berries, they warned me to touch nothing hard to do when snakes and branches and hidden cliffs were trying to do me in.

They were right, I would have never made it.

I quickly got over the excitement of hiking through a mountain that wanted to kill me, tripping over every branch in existence, and swatting at bugs that wanted to eat me.

I tried to keep my mind off the drudgery of the journey, but after years of daydreaming of dragons I didn’t have much else in my arsenal. It really didn’t help that I now had three dragon’s within grabbing distance. My daydreams, however, had now changed from one kind of riding to another.

I was trying to keep myself in check, but there was nothing else to do. At least I stopped trying to find an excuse to brush against poor Zilon.

Slowly, I got used to the buzzing that rippled over each nerve just from being close to them. It became a part of me, something I was forced to accept and live with.

I couldn’t go to them. They weren’t mine to go to, and I had to respect that. But fuck was it hard. I had to bite my lip way too often, clench my thighs together when they got too close. Try to resist the urge to smell them when we sat around a fire at night.

I should probably try to think of something else. But there wasn’t anything there. Except for Da.

I couldn’t do anything about that. I couldn’t get his body. Couldn’t go back home to mourn with Ma and Elodie, I couldn’t even tell them what had happened. I had to keep telling myself that if I did that, I’d bring the Fae to their doorstep, and I’d get them killed too.

I squeezed my eyes, fighting the tears. At that same moment, a branch caught my foot and I fell. I grabbed for the nearest tree, my hand burning from breaking my fall. Without looking at it, I knew the wound reopened and was bleeding again.

“Why can’t we ride a horse?” I asked, probably for the tenth time as Zilon once again helped me back to my feet. How many times had I fallen already? Obviously, me and the mountains didn’t get along too well. I preferred the open lands where I could run with my eyes closed as the warm wind blew in my face.

“What horse can scale this?” Landers asked, annoyance filling his response.

“None. That’s the point of it all,” Philit said and as if to prove his point, he had to squeeze between two thick trees, he went through sideways, wincing as he extended his wings. Even then he barely made it. “This is a special path for all riders to take to make it through Crotlyn Mountains. It is meant to be a trial, to prove your worth. To show that as a rider you are strong enough to be paired with a dragon. Dragons just fly over.”

“Ha. Some trial you get. You all might be pussies scared of mice and no one would know.” I laughed at my joke, not one of them joined me. Guys needed a sense of humor.

“Everyone already knows a dragon is strong. We don’t need to prove anything.” Landers grinned at me like that was enough of an answer.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” I tripped again, catching myself that time. “I am expected to hike through this while dragons just leisurely flew over it, enjoying the beautiful view from up top. You all are spoiled.”

“This is the very journey the first rider took,” Philit said softly, touching two trees that twisted over a pile of stone. His touch was soft as though he was thanking the trees.

“The first rider?” I asked in confusion and they all whirled on me with differing levels of shock on their brow. I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess, something else I was never told. I have mentioned that we don't get many riders or dragons in our parts, right?”

“Do not worry, Rayna, I have not heard the story either,” Zilon said quietly, his eyes meeting mind before they flashed away.

“Fine, it’ll give me something to do besides picking you up off your ass,” Philit said as I slipped on a rock. Again. “The very first dragon found his mate in these mountains. He was already living here and he had his first shift here. As everyone knows, a dragon’s first shift isn’t smooth.”

---