Page 51 of The Crimson Walls Of Algorath

Perhaps he already was.

Ariadne marveled at Bindhe’s unique coloring when they reached the forest clearing an hour later. The pale green scales shimmered in the low moonlight like the wings of a luna moth, and her black spikes trailed her back elegantly down to the tip of her long, thin tail. She was larger than Oria, though not as large as Razer, and her stunning tarnished silver eyes were discerning as they tracked her.

“We leave.” Kall laid a hand on Bindhe’s nose in greeting, and she huffed in response, blinking slowly at him. “Come.”

Until that moment, Ariadne had not thought much about the prospect of flying. After settling the mode of transport by means of arguments, she had been careful not to focus on what would come next. Facing the dragon set to fly her into a hostile desert city, however…

“I do not think I can do this.” She stared at Bindhe, who almost seemed to ruffle with indignation. “Perhaps we should have practiced first.”

Kall raised his scarred brow. “You not fall.”

Now her stomach roiled. Falling had not even been on her mind. Just the thought of riding atop a massive reptile on her way to somehow convincing Melia Tagh to release her husband had been enough for her to have doubts.

“What if I do?” She turned round eyes on the dhemon. He had become a guardian of sorts to her over the last few nights. Likely from Madan’s instruction, he knew precisely how far to push her and when she appeared ready to break. Oftentimes, she pushed through without too much trouble. Grappling with him had taken on a whole other level of mental fortitude, however. She had begun to trust him. Trust that he would never do something to truly hurt her. Still, how could he prevent her from tumbling hundreds of feet into unforgiving ground?

He sighed. “I no let you.”

Bindhe nudged her arm, bringing her massive head, nose first, between it and her body, where she looked up at her with those shining eyes. Though Ariadne could not hear what she said, she got the feeling the dragon was trying to tell her you will be fine.

Kall mumbled something in the dhemon language, and Bindhe huffed, flicking her sharp gaze to him. Then he said again, “We leave. Now.”

Try as she might, Ariadne could not stop shaking as she stepped to Bindhe’s side. Kall bent at the knees and put one hand over the other in front of him. She stared at him for a long moment before he rolled his eyes and explained the makeshift step. Though she knew full well that he could pick her up without any effort, she stepped as gingerly as possible into the palm of his hand. He hoisted as she stood, nearly throwing her onto Bindhe’s back.

The pale scales were smooth under her fingers and harder than any metal she had ever touched. The curve at the base of her neck created a natural seat that shifted with each movement. Even after Kall hauled himself up behind her, there was enough room for them both to be comfortable. Though she was not certain how comfortable she was sitting so close to the dhemon, his chest pressing against her back.

“Legs hold,” Kall instructed as Bindhe stood to her full height.

Even still on the ground, Ariadne felt entirely out of her league. Yes, she loved riding horseback. Yes, she could even do so astride and bareback. Neither of those seemed to translate into what she did at that moment. On the back of a dragon—gods, a dragon—she sat almost three times as high as on Astra.

Still, she squeezed her quaking thighs tight against Bindhe’s neck, her thundering heart drowning out the rest of the world. She wished her first flight had been with Azriel. She wished Azriel had even warned her that dragons existed. She wished she had had time to practice before such a long and potentially dangerous flight.

“What if I slip?” Her voice shook, teeth chattering around each syllable.

Kall did not laugh, though she sensed his amusement through the haze of her terror. Instead, he leaned a little closer, his horns bumping into the side of her face as he repeated his earlier words, “You not fall.”

“What if…” The words failed her. Hot tears pricked at her eyes, and she found herself leaning back against him—against anything that felt solid and stable. “What if Ehrun comes?”

At first, he did not reply. When she looked up at him, his eyes seemed distant, as though he was thinking about something far away. Then he said, “Bindhe fly around Auhla.”

The dhemon keep. A shudder went down her spine despite evidence pointing to the cliffside keep being empty. “But Ehrun has dragons, too?”

Kall grunted in affirmation yet did not elaborate. He leaned forward, pressing in tight to her back, and gripped a black spike above Ariadne’s head. His free arm slunk around her waist, holding her loosely to him. She shut her eyes, reminding herself who he was and that Madan trusted him. Azriel trusted him. She trusted him.

Then Bindhe stretched out her green wings and launched into the air.

Ariadne’s scream stuck in her throat. She shut her eyes hard against the wind and ducked her face away. Her stomach settled as Bindhe leveled out, though she did not release any tension from her legs. Behind her, Kall’s chest rumbled with laughter swept away by the wind, but his arm tightened around her nonetheless.

“Ydhom.” The word was faint, the cold night air catching the sound and tossing it away before it could fully form. “Look, ydhom.”

At his behest, she cracked open her eyes. Between the wind and her uncertainty that she would be able to hold her stomach, she kept them tight enough to just see through her lashes. After a moment of steady flying, however, she opened them a bit more.

And, gods, was it beautiful.

The night sky folded around her like a twinkling blanket. Where she was accustomed to viewing the stars from her vantage point on the ground, she had not considered what they would look like out of reach of the lights from manors and highway lanterns. Swaths of distant galaxies stretched as far as she could see, the sheer number of them blurring together in clouds of faraway light. The crescent moon bathed amongst the sea of darkness and beamed down at them without the hindrance of any clouds.

“Look,” Kall said again and pointed north.

Ariadne followed his line of sight. Lights of green and purple danced across the distant horizon, rising and falling over the trees as though they breathed. She had heard of and read tales about the lights that danced in the northernmost reaches of Myridia, yet she had never had the pleasure of seeing them herself. They were, without a doubt, one of the most magical sights she had ever laid her eyes on.

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