Page 20 of Upon Buried Embers
They all seem affectionate with each other, and not bothered about the audiences they have. I’ve only seen it behind closed doors, well, sometimes. Master would slap a girl’s ass when he was done with her, and she would always giggle at him for it, but there wasn’t anything… soft.
I tilt my head.
Maybe that was their affection, but it’s nothing like the way Kaldar now rubs Olaf’s cheek, or the way Adora smiles at them, holding on to both of their hands.
It’s so… strange.
I blink and look away, only for dark eyes to pierce mine. Rohan watches me, looking at the three of them before looking back at me, nostrils flaring.
I bow my head, playing with the horse’s mane, not wanting him to think I’m spying or something, even though we are out in the open.
“I don’t think it will happen again, but if it comes over to us, we may need to make contact and tell them to stop.”
“And if they don’t? What’s his name is in charge, isn’t he?” Kaldar’s brows furrow as he thinks, before clicking his fingers. “Charles! I’m sure Dorkin said that’s his name.”
“I don’t care who is in charge. They fuck around with the lands to cause issues on our side then I will burn theirs.” I shiver at the danger in his voice.
Rohan moves to the side of the horse, rubbing its neck.
“Come down now,” he says to me, and with as much speed as I can, I lift an aching leg and turn to the side, only to have hands grab my hips and place me down on the ground. “Too slow. Too damn tiny.”
I scowl, but quickly mask it as I’m spun around, tied to him once again.
“Come, Serah,” Rohan says as we begin to walk, and the horse follows. “Remember to stay sharp and vigilant everyone. The last two winters, wildlings have tried to prey upon us as we leave.” They all nod while my heart hammers. “Drogonah, to the sky.” The large dragon’s ears twitch before he grunts, and then his wings spread wide.
One powerful downstroke later, he’s in flight, a dark mass amongst the white, snow-filled sky.
“You’re not riding him?” I wonder aloud. Rohan looks at me.
Oh Gods.
Slaves don’t ask questions.
I wait for the harsh words, the shouting and getting in my face for speaking out of turn when I haven’t been spoken to first, but he doesn’t do any of that.
He actually… answers.
“Not yet, I fear your tiny ass will fall instantly, and what a waste that is when I have use of you.” He pulls his axe from the straps on his back, then pulls the rope so I’m next to him. “If you don’t want to be dragon food, stay next to me.”
And then he’s pulling me out of the cave and into the winter snow, where wild dragons and barbarians roam.
Seven
Elf
Snow crunches under my feet. Rohan doesn’t slow down for me as I stumble my way forward, teeth chattering. The Pit was much more comfortable, the lava —though deadly, kept me warm.
I pull the cloak around me tighter, making sure my hood doesn’t get blown down and uncover my ears. We’ve been walking for many hours it seems, and I think we’re all slowly faltering as the snow falls faster and visibility gets more difficult.
Horses huff behind me, and the other dragons that were with us flew into the sky not long after we began our journey.
I look up and see who I think is Drogonah circling us high above, dipping in and out of the clouds. I wonder how dragons decide to be with the Dragorie.
I know only one has a main bond with its Dragonbond, its chosen, but what about the others?
They seemed to be drawn to Rohan earlier, is it a mutual respect thing or something deeper?
“Where will we camp tonight?” Olaf asks, walking with Adora. The woman always seems to be on alert, and though she hasn’t said anything horrible to me, she also hasn’t said anything at all.
