SWNOVELS Dragonia: Rise of the Wyverns – Chapter 16
Captain Vesryn stood in the center of Vaereal. Rain poured all around him. The storm refused to let up, making it hard to travel. The dragons didn’t like to fly in the rain, especially a storm. He couldn’t blame the beasts. It would be unsettling to fly so close to lightning. They reached Vaereal by foot, and much later than he wanted. On one of his dragonrider’s flights, they found a trail leading to Vaereal from the north, and what appeared to be a camp. However, the camp was abandoned, and there was no trace of its occupants in Vaereal.
“Where did they go?” he mused.
“Captain.” Tirask bowed.
Vesryn turned to glare at the dragonrider. The one person who’d had the traitors in his grasp and lost them. “What?”
“What is our course of action? We’ve searched all the buildings in the village, asked all of the people here, but no one claims to have seen them.”
“Have you found any tracks?”
“None.” Tirask paused. “But it’s hard to tell with this storm. Even if they traveled around the village, or through it, the rain has washed the tracks away. The dragons can’t even determine their scent through the storm.”
“There are only three directions they could have gone from here. North, south, or east.”
“What about west?” Tirask asked.
“Into the sea?” Vesryn laughed.
Tirask tilted his head.
“There’s nothing in that direction but wild dragon land. If they do travel that way, they’re as sure as dead anyway. Only the northern island has been claimed by the Dragonia Empire to tame the dragons. If there are any more, they’re not tame dragons, but wild beasts. Besides, who in their right mind would travel into this storm? With a ragtag bunch of peasants, who know nothing about manning a ship, and no ship to speak of? Do you suppose they carried a large ship from Kaed down here?”
Tirask shrugged. “It was just a thought.”
“Think less,” Vesryn said. “We need to find these men. The general is expecting us to deliver these traitors. We’ve already spent too much time searching. If we fail, we’ll all have to report to the general, and possibly the emperor. Do you want that, Tirask?”
Tirask’s body grew rigid. “No, sir.”
“Let’s split into three parties once more and search the north, south, and east thoroughly.”
“Yes, sir.” Tirask turned around and strode away to find the other dragonriders.
“They have to be out there somewhere,” Vesryn whispered.